The Crystal Heart
by The Elleth Meowen
Summary: Moving is always scary, especially for twelve year old Cecilia living in 42 AD Rome. Waking up in 2010 on an entirely different continent? Downright terrifying.
1. 1 Before

**A/N - This story is on my Quotev account, under the same name. I will be uploading six chapters at a time until both stories have the same number of chapters. Thanks for reading!**

 **Also, this is going to be a REALLY slow-burning story, so don't worry about Cecilia being only twelve right now because she's not getting a love interest until later, and that's NOT going to be the main point of the story.**

* * *

 **The Roman Empire**  
 **April 6, Around Midday**  
 **24 AD**

Cecilia trotted to keep up with her mother, Priscilla, and her father, a musician named Tiberius. She stared blankly at the green, country scenery as they walked, still not entirely willing to believe what her father's profession was making them do. She didn't want to move. At all. She had been perfectly happy back in Rome with her friends and small home and few, familiar possessions. She didn't want anything else, yet those were the very things she had to lose. Her father had sent most of their things ahead with her older brother, Felix, but nothing of her own except the small rag doll that she now held close to her chest was ever going to see her new home.

Cecilia was scared. She didn't want to admit it, especially in front of her father, but she was scared that a sphinx or harpy or lion or some other monstrosity would leap out and eat them all. Her mother and father didn't believe in such things, but one of their neighbors back in Rome had warned them that the leafy trees lining each side of the paved road provided excellent cover for monsters. And what if Perusia was plagued with giants or locusts? What if their new house wasn't sturdy enough to defend them or the crops died? Or maybe their new house would be too small. Or maybe it would be too different. And even if none of that happened, she was scared that the girls in Perusia wouldn't like her. What if the Perusians found out that they were Christians? Would the girls hate her then? Would her father be taken away and crucified? Would her mother be beaten and slaughtered? And what of herself and her brother? Would they all die and join her eldest brother, named after her father, in the Lord's kingdom? _'What if-? What if-? What if-?'_

" _Cecilia!_ " her mother called sharply, snapping the twelve year old girl out of her thoughts. She looked down and noticed that she had stopped walking, and little glowing pebbles were beginning to form on the road around her. She quickly reined herself in and sprinted to catch up to her parents, who were several feet ahead of herself. Her father gave her a knowing, stern look, " _What did we say about using your abilities? What if someone had seen?_ "

Cecilia knew that he was only angry because he was afraid for her safety, but that didn't stop the ashamed tears from blurring her vision. She hung her head both to hide them and show sincerity and respect. Her hands discreetly gripped the cloth of her long white tunic and she whispered, " _I am sorry, Daddy._ "

Her mother's hand rested comfortingly on her shoulder, and Cecilia knew that her father's anger was quickly dissipating. Sure enough, she was wordlessly pulled into a hug before the trio began to move again. She stayed close to her mother and stared at the road, only half-listening to Priscilla's soothing alto, " _There is nothing to be frightened of, Cecilia. You will be happy in Perusia; we all will be happy. And if you are worried about those gems, do not be. There were not any people close enough to notice._ "

Cecilia briefly glanced around at the other travelers on the road. There were several merchants, and a few people had donkey-drawn carts or other animals of burden to carry their loads. Everyone seemed to be a Roman citizen, although Cecilia figured that one couldn't always tell, even if her former neighbors all agreed that foreigners were weird and easy to spot and quite frankly unintelligent and savage.

If she had looked behind her, Cecilia would have seen a man not too far back that definitely stuck out from the other travelers. He was wearing a brown tunic and trousers instead of the usual white toga, and he was bald with a large, bushy brown beard. His dark cloak was fastened on his right shoulder, so that it draped over his torso diagonally, although in the back it must have looked like a regular cape. He wasn't abnormally tall or short, but it was clear from his build that he didn't have to do much physical labor. He carried nothing in his hands and kept his gaze fixed ahead of him, an innocent picture of someone minding their own business, and yet the Roman citizens who saw him kept a safe distance.

The man came to the spot where Cecilia had stood just a minute or so before and dropped his gaze curiously to the ground. Wordlessly, he knelt and picked up the largest of the tiny gems and took a moment to study it, rolling it over in his hand and noting everything about it. The gem was perfectly smooth and rounded like a oval, and it produced warmth and a pure light. Then he closed his fist tightly around it, stood up, and began walking again, this time with his gaze flicking to the girl ahead of him and her family.

Cecilia and her parents were unaware of this as they walked. It wasn't until they reached a part of the road with few other travelers that the strange man approached and asked softly, " _Excuse me, sir, but is this yours?_ "

Cecilia and her mother turned their heads as Tiberius faced the man. As soon as Cecilia saw what was in his outstretched palm, she gasped and felt her father pull her behind him. She closed her eyes and concentrated on not slipping up again as her father asked, " _What is it to you?_ "

The man allowed the suspense to torture Cecilia a bit before he looked at the jewel and answered, " _Such a gift should not be kept secret from the world. Your daughter has amazing power that she does not yet know. She should not be admonished and hidden away, but she should be admired by all of Rome. Worshipped, even._ "

Cecilia didn't like this man, and she knew that her parents didn't either. Once before, when she was very young, someone else had found out about her abilities and said the same thing. Her parents had refused and moved her and her brother to Rome, and they would refuse this man, too. But the man seemed to anticipate their response and continued quickly, " _She is not the only one with power beyond that of mortal man. Pluto has blessed me with control of the earth, like he has blessed your daughter with these magnificent gems. He has raised us up to be more than what we could be on our own. You should not teach her to be fearful of her abilities._ "

Cecilia knew that her parents were uneasy with this man claiming that she had been blessed by the Roman god of the dead. They had taught her that she had been blessed by the Hebrew God, and by Jesus his son, and that there was a reason beyond their own understanding for it. Sure enough, her father replied, " _I will tell you what I told the others: no._ "

" _Ah, I see,_ " the man responded, his deep voice now hiding some unidentifiable emotion. " _But let your daughter decide. What say you, Cecilia? You should be ruling Rome as the gods intended._ "

' _He knows my name!_ ' Cecilia thought with fear, opening her eyes wide. She peeked out from behind her father and tried to answer, but her voice refused to work, so she simply shook her head and returned to hiding behind her father. The man's voice revealed that hidden emotion to be disgust and anger, " _You dare defy the gods? This is the destiny they have laid out for us! Do not resist the fates, young one. Pluto will punish you greatly in the afterlife if you disobey! Join me._ "

Cecilia's mother gently wrapped her arms around the twelve-year-old, who in turn clung closer to her doll. Her father tried to say something to the man, but he spoke first, his anger speaking louder than his words, " _You have poisoned your daughter's mind! You have stolen her from the gods! Therefore, I will steal her from you and return her to Pluto, so that he may know that I was not disobedient!_ "

The ground began to shake, at first just a tremble but then as a mighty quake. Cecilia cried out in terror and cowered into her mother's arms as her father, after a moment's hesitation, attacked the man. She didn't even register the gems forming on the stones around her feet and on her skin as a wall of stone suddenly rose up between her father and the man. She watched in horror as her father turned to them and shouted to run just before another wall blocked him from view. Her mother didn't hesitate to obey and grabbed Cecilia's upper arm, pulling her along until her feet began to work. Cecilia struggled to keep up and fearfully asked her mother, " _What about Daddy?_ "

Priscilla only began to sob as an answer, and Cecilia felt a dread unlike anything she had ever experienced before. Then something caught Cecilia's feet, and she fell with a startled yelp. Her mother was quick to turn around, but the stones wrapped around her feet and kept her in place. Cecilia's blue eyes locked onto her mother's frightened green ones, and she leapt back onto her feet to try to run to Priscilla. But the ground opened up underneath her, and with a scream she plunged into the darkness, her panic finally overtaking her.

She curled into a protective ball and closed her eyes as the ground closed up again, and then she knew nothing. She couldn't hear or see the walls of stone above her melt away like nothing had happened, or see her mother scrambling to the place Cecilia had stood moments before as the stone binding her feet released her, or hear the anguished crying of a mother who had lost her only daughter, or see her father run to comfort her mother, or see the strange man walking away with a satisfied smile. All she knew was warmth and light, and she drifted to sleep.


	2. 2 The Awakening

**Unknown Location  
September 23, 22:48 EDT  
1,968 Years Later**

Cecilia slowly became aware of the feeling gradually returning to her body. She felt stiff and drowsy, but otherwise she was fine. She was at peace, blissfully coming out of a deep sleep that she didn't necessarily want to wake up from. But she needed to wake up for some reason she couldn't yet remember. She tried to think of what was so important, but the fog clouding her brain made it impossible to contemplate anything but the most basic functions.

"She's waking up," some female voice said. Immediately, Cecilia's mind cleared enough for her to realize that the voice was unfamiliar, as was the language. Now she really needed to wake up. She fought against the comfort of sleep and struggled to open her eyes. Where was her mother? Where was her father and brother? Were they here?

With a soft grunt, she pried her eyes open. Her vision was blurry, but she could make out four human figures in front of her before her eyelids grew tired and closed again. She tried again, this time recognizing that there was one woman and three men, and that the woman and one man sported colors like reds, yellows, and blues while the other two wore mainly black. She had to open her eyes a third time before her vision cleared completely and she was able to keep them focused. Her gaze landed on one of the men dressed in black, a rather intimidating man with lots of strong muscles and only the bottom of his face visible, and she scrambled away, screaming, " _Mormolyce! Mormolyce!_ "

She hit a wall and quickly realized that she was on a barely-padded bed of some sort in the corner of the room. She whimpered at her inability to escape and curled into a ball, staring intensely at the strange man. So afraid was she that she didn't remember that Mormolyce was a female, but even if she had remembered she would still be afraid.

"Batman, what is she calling you?" the man in the colorful clothes said to the intimidating man. The woman spoke next, "Mormolyce was a vampire in Roman and Greek mythology that ate children who misbehaved. Batman, I think that you should leave until we calm her down."

Cecilia still didn't understand what they were saying. They must be foreigners. That would explain why they were wearing such strange and colorful clothing. Foreigners... strange clothing... why did that sound important...?

' _That foreigner!_ ' she remembered with a jolt, everything that had happened to her coming back with the force of a bull. She had been moving to Perusia, but her family was attacked, and the ground had opened up... Were her parents all right? Did they know that she was here? What about that strange man with the bushy beard? What happened to him? And her brother? And where was her family? She suddenly noticed the bright, strange lights on the ceiling that illuminated the room and began to cry from the confusion and fear of it all. ' _And where am I?_ '

"I agree. Inform me when she has calmed down," the intimidating man told the others before exiting through a single door on the other side of the room. Cecilia barely registered this through her blurry tears and the sting of her contracting throat. She hugged herself and leaned against the wall, keeping a wary eye on the three strangers left in the room. The woman took two cautious steps forward, but Cecilia pressed herself farther into the wall, making the woman stop and hold her hands out placatingly, "Emeís den tha sas vlápsei."

Cecilia still didn't understand what the woman was saying and continued to cry pitifully. She wanted her mother. She wanted her father. She wanted to be anywhere but here, like maybe playing with her brother Felix. She just wanted to go home and let this bad dream end. But the woman kept speaking, "Me katalavaíneis?"

"Mi capisci adesso?" the woman tried again after Cecilia didn't respond. Cecilia just wanted her to stop talking. She couldn't understand whatever she was telling her. She didn't care to, either. She was lost and scared and simply wanted her family. Was that too much to hope for?

" _Do you understand Latin?_ " the woman asked, catching Cecilia off guard. She spoke her language! The twelve-year-old took back her earlier thought of not caring and looked at the woman with wet eyes, nodding in response and trying to calm herself. Maybe this woman could help her find her family.

"She speaks Latin," the woman told her two friends, reverting back to the language Cecilia didn't understand. The other man in mainly black, who was wearing a funny hat, a cloak with sleeves, pants, white gloves, and two shirts (the outer one was yellow and the inner one was white), spoke to the woman, "So Batman's guess that she is Roman might be correct."

The woman turned back to Cecilia, " _Where are you from?_ "

" _Rome,_ " Cecilia answered hoarsely, thinking that that should have been obvious by her clothing style: a simple white tunic extending to her ankles, with a simple sash tied tightly around her waist, and closed-toed shoes. But then again, they were obviously foreigners. " _Who are you?_ "

" _I am_ Wonder Woman _. This is_ Superman _and_ Zatara _. We want to help you,_ " Wonder Woman answered with a kind smile, pointing to the colorful man and the darkly-dressed man respectively. Yep, they were definitely foreigners, but what did it matter if they were here to help? They were going to help her find her family again! The thought brought hope to Cecilia's heart, and she quickly wiped the tears from her face and sat up. Then she remembered Mormolyce and asked, " _What about that other man?_ "

" _His name is_ Batman _. He will not harm you. He wants to help, just like we do._ "

Satisfied, Cecilia listened to the strange language Wonder Woman used to relay the information she had gathered to Superman and Zatara. As the adults conversed, Batman returned and joined whatever debate they were having. Cecilia felt a little bit of guilt wriggle around her chest at the sight of him. She had, after all, called him a child-eating vampire. She made a mental note to apologize later.

While the adults were talking, Cecilia examined the room. It was lit by the mysterious lights above her, which were clearly not natural sunlight. The walls were made of some sort of stone, as was the ceiling and floor, except for the door and wall containing the door, which were both made of metal.. The bed she was on was the only furniture in the room, and it's mattress was glowing with... ' _Oh no..._ '

Tiny glowing gems were dotting the bed. _Her_ tiny glowing gems. She scooped them all up and clenched them in one hand, remembering what had happened the last time foreigners had found out about her ability. The thought of that scene made her reconsider being with these strangers. What if the strange man had opened up the ground so that she could land in this room? What if these people were with him? This wasn't... the underworld, was it? No, her parents had insisted that Pluto didn't exist. But what if he did, and that really was Mormolyce, and these people wanted to harm her and keep her from her parents? ' _No. You are simply overreacting. They promised to help you. They promised._ '

Eventually, the adults came to some conclusion and turned their attention back towards her. Every one of them noticed that one of her hands was tightly clenched and the other was not, and Batman was the first to ask, " _What is in your hand, Cecilia?_ "

Cecilia looked from the strangers to her hand, and then focused on the wall with a shrug. She saw Wonder Woman approach out of the corner of her eye and attempted to discreetly mover her hand behind her back. It didn't work. The black-haired woman's voice was gently, yet stern, " _Cecilia, let us see what you have._ "

" _No!_ " Cecilia answered with a shake of her head. But of course, like any child, she could feel when an adult's patience was wearing thin. And like any adult, these four evidently didn't like being so directly disobeyed. Caught, Cecilia threw the gems past Wonder Woman and huddled closer to the corner. But to her surprise, the adults only exchanged mixed looks before focusing back on Cecilia with sympathy - except for Batman, whom Cecilia couldn't read. Wonder Woman sat down on the bed and pulled Cecilia into a warm hug not unlike those that her mother would give her. Cecilia stiffened suspiciously but didn't fight her.

" _What happened?_ " Wonder Woman asked softly. Cecilia closed her eyes as her throat began to sting again and willed herself not to cry at the memory that was bubbling to the front of her mind. Once the emotion subsided enough, she told them.

* * *

Translations by Google:

1\. Emeís den tha sas vlápsei.  
Greek for "We will not hurt you."

2\. Me katalavaíneis?  
Greek for "Do you understand me?"

3\. Mi capisci adesso?  
Italian for "Do you understand me now?"


	3. 3 Denial and Learning

After Cecilia had explained everything, Wonder Woman and Batman took a few minutes to translate her story to Superman and Zatara. She marveled at how none of them freaked out at the mention of her special abilities. It was almost unsettling that they hadn't reacted like everyone else. Instead, Batman had asked her a few questions and they had let it be. They weren't uninterested, but they definitely weren't very surprised. Why?

Cecilia was getting tired of not understanding what the adults were talking about and only being spoken to if one of them had a question. But the most troubling question happened to be the last, when Wonder Woman and the rest finally seemed to be ready to talk to her, and Wonder Woman asked, " _Who is the current ruler of Rome?_ "

Cecilia wondered if this was a trick question and answered, " _Emperor Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, or simply Emperor Claudius. He has been Emperor for about a year. Why?_ "

" _Because he has been dead for almost two thousand years,_ " Wonder Woman replied carefully. It took a moment for Cecilia to process her words. Dead? How could he be dead? His reign just started! He couldn't be dead for 2,000 years if he just became emperor. This woman was out of her mind. Cecilia smiled patiently at Wonder Woman, even though she could feel the "you're crazy" expression on her own face, " _Emperor Claudius is still alive. His reign began just last year._ "

" _No, Cecilia,_ " Batman said, taking a step forward. " _Emperor Claudius is dead, and the Roman Empire fell long ago._ "

The twelve-year-old shook her head as if the very thought was insane, but she could feel her confidence dropping. Still, for Rome to have fallen "long ago" and for Emperor Claudius to be dead for that long would mean... Cecilia shook her head again, " _But I would be dead now if that were true, yet here I am._ "

The four adults again exchanged looks, then they all nodded and Wonder Woman beckoned for her to follow. Cecilia cautiously slid off of the bed and onto her feet, noting the weird feeling in her legs, as if she hadn't stood in a long time. Then she obediently let the adults lead her out of the room and into a rather short hall with similar lights on the ceiling to the room she woke up in. The hall had three doors on each side, and she had woken up in the one in the back right.

After that, everything became more or less a complicated blur of new inventions and information as she was led through a rather very large, cave-like room with more lights and lots of weird beds and metal tables and pictures of nothing but lines, made of light and hanging in midair, and other things that Cecilia would never in her wildest dreams have imagined. Wonder Woman tried to explain everything, " _This is the Medical Bay. We kept you here until we were sure that you were in a stable condition, then we moved you into one of the living quarters to make you more comfortable. I can imagine that all of this must be overwhelming, but after a while you will get used to it._ "

Feeling as if Wonder Woman hadn't explained anything at all, Cecilia nodded blankly and tried to tune everything out. It was too much. Rome was the most advanced empire on earth, yet they never had anything like this. This... this was sorcery, unnatural. Nothing in that room made logical sense. Every time she looked at something - anything - she would wonder vainly, ' _How? Why? What?_ '

Superman's hand on her shoulder startled Cecilia from her thoughts. Even if she couldn't understand whatever language he used, his concerned gaze was enough to tell her what he wanted to know. She smiled back bravely in response and continued to follow Wonder Woman across the "Medical Bay" and to a large, perfectly oval stone made of some clear material and glowing feebly with a faded pure light. Batman was the one to speak next, " _Some laborers found this crystal buried deep underground, with you in it._ Zatara _was alerted, and in turn he notified us. We brought you here to further examine the crystal and yourself early this morning. We think that you were feeding off of the crystal's unique energy to keep yourself alive._ "

" _We tried to break you free, but the crystal resisted our attempts to break it. Only_ Zatara _'s magic could coax you out,_ " Wonder Woman finished. Cecilia barely understood a word they said, even though it was in latin. But what she did understand made sense. She must have created a the stone in her terror, forming a life-preserving cocoon around herself, and draining the energy of the stone would explain why there was hardly any light or warmth left in it. But of course, this all supported the idea that she was now possibly the oldest girl alive, an idea that was driving an emotional knife deeper through her heart the more obvious it became. After a few minutes of silence that allowed everything to fully sink in and weigh on her small shoulders, Cecilia cleared her newly-stinging throat and asked softly, " _Does... this mean that... I'm the last Roman left? Are my parents... my family and friends..._ "

The question hung in the air longer than Cecilia thought was necessary, but the silence answered her inquiry in and of itself. She hung her head and tried to keep the tears from leaking out of her eyes. Everything, _everything_ , was gone. Wonder Woman's hand appeared on her shoulder as the older woman sympathized, " _I am sorry. But we did find this in the crystal with you._ "

Cecilia looked up to find Wonder Woman holding her rag doll, which looked just like it had the day she lost her entire world. She took it and held it at arm's length, her expression unreadable as she examined the only surviving piece of her former life besides the clothes on her back. She felt empty, completely and utterly devoid of everything. There was no emotion. How could there be? What emotion could possibly be adequate for all of this? She felt no anger, no sadness, just undisturbed nothingness. Then, ' _This can not be real._ '

Cecilia tore herself away from Wonder Woman's grip and sprinted to her room, ignoring whoever called her name as she did so. She just wanted to get away, to ignore everything, to make it all stop. Reaching her room, she slammed the door shut and collapsed onto her bed in a crumbled mess, staring blankly at the wall and listening for any sounds of pursuit. No tears came, no bouts of anger, just denial of anything and everything, just the same hollow feeling in her gut. And if she closed her eyes and held her doll close, she could almost imagine that she was still in Rome with her family and friends...

Almost.

She wasn't entirely sure how long she laid there, but eventually the nothingness faded into a dreamless sleep. The next thing she knew, Wonder Woman was waking her up again, " _How are you feeling? Are you hungry?_ "

" _My mother used to ask that when I was ill. Her name was Priscilla,_ " Cecilia told her emotionlessly. Wonder Woman sighed quietly and sat down. They both let silence have it's way for a few minutes before the older woman spoke up, " _Normally, Black Canary handles this sort of thing, but she is on a mission in Egypt at the moment. But we've all had our share of losses. Batman lost his parents, Superman lost his entire home planet-_ "

" _Wait, what?_ " Cecilia asked, sitting up straight in surprise. Wonder Woman chuckled, " _That's a lesson for another day. But the point is that you aren't alone. You can talk to Batman, myself, or any other adult here. As long as there is life, there is hope. And as long as there is hope, there is life._ "

Cecilia's head was swimming again, so she stuck with the simple questions, " _How long will I be staying here?_ "

" _Until we can find other arrangements for you. I doubt that you will become bored though, so do not worry. There are other children here who will keep you company._ "

So she would have new friends. Did she have to move on so soon? " _Where are they now?_ "

" _On a mission, but they will return shortly._ "

Cecilia nodded and tried to push back memories of her old friends. She needed to focus on the present, no matter how much it hurt. ' _The present... The past used to be the present. Rome used to be now._ '

Another wave of tears threatened to manifest, but she pushed them away and cleared her throat, " _So... where am I now?_ "

" _Mount Justice._ "


	4. 4 New Friends and Foods

**Mount Justice  
September 24, 02:56 EDT**

Approximately thirty minutes later, Cecilia was standing in Mount Justice's kitchen, biting into an apple while Wonder Woman patiently tried to explain what everything did and how. So far, she had learned about and forgotten the microwave, refrigerator, toaster, lightbulb, television, and clock. The only thing she could seem to remember was the oven, which acted similarly to ovens back in Rome, and the garbage can.

So Cecilia eventually contented herself with eating her apple and nodding whenever Wonder Woman turned to make sure she understood. The older woman was fooled for almost fifteen seconds, " _You are not paying attention, are you?_ "

" _No... I am sorry,_ " Cecilia apologized, bowing her head in the same fashion she had once showed to her father. A hollow void crept into her heart and her appetite disappeared. She quickly raised her head on the premise of throwing her apple in the garbage bin and changed the subject, " _Will the other children be here soon?_ "

Wonder Woman nodded and led her to the couch in the adjacent living room. They both sat down on the cushiony seat, and Cecilia listened to the ebony-haired Amazonian warrior explain, " _They are debriefing_ Batman _on their mission. He will inform them of your presence and lead them here. Once you have been introduced, we will leave you in their care. Do you remember what I told you about them?_ "

Now it was Cecilia's turn to nod. Before leaving her new room for the kitchen, Wonder Woman had graciously explained the Justice League and their collection of young sidekicks. Cecilia couldn't remember a whole lot about the adults, but she had paid special attention to the people who would be her new... She wasn't sure what to call them yet, but she had listened carefully to Wonder Woman's description of their abilities, personalities, and appearances. She wasn't very keen on meeting them so soon after losing her family and waking up in the future, but she was determined to make a good impression nonetheless. A good impression might be vital if she was going to live here peacefully, and she knew that her family would want her to move on.

Wonder Woman gave her a sympathetic look, " _Are you nervous?_ "

" _No._ "

" _Your crystals are forming on your skin. You are not a very skilled liar._ "

Cecilia lowered her gaze to her hands. Sure enough, her glowing stones were thinly forming in small patches across her arms. She scowled slightly and picked them off, collecting them in her lap. Then she stood and looked for a place to hide them. Wonder Woman was silent during all of this, watching the twelve year old, until Cecilia tried to put the crystals in the refrigerator, " _What are you doing?_ "

" _I do not know how to destroy my stones, only how to create them. In Rome, I would hide them to keep people from finding out about my abilities... But I guess that is futile now, is it not?_ " Cecilia explained with a forced chuckle, closing the refrigerator door and keeping her crystals in one hand. Wonder Woman gave her another sympathetic look and joined her in the kitchen, taking her glowing crystals and dropping them into the garbage can. Wonder Woman was about to say something, but then her focus shifted behind Cecilia. Instinctively, the younger girl turned around and tried to find what Wonder Woman had seen. Nothing had changed since they had left the living room, so what...?

Then Cecilia heard voices. She couldn't make out the conversation, and even if she could she probably couldn't understand them, but she knew that they were close. And sure enough, Batman soon walked into the kitchen, followed by four boys and two girls. Cecilia instantly guessed that all of them were older than herself, and she disagreed with Wonder Woman's description of them as children. In Rome, most if not all of them would have already come of age, especially if they were in the upper class.

The group of "children" stopped at the kitchen entrance upon spotting her, but Batman continued forward and came to a stop beside Cecilia, "This is Cecilia. She will be living here until other arrangements can be made. We have already scheduled a tutor to teach her English, Mathematics, and Science. Your job will be to help her adapt to life in the twenty-first century."

Cecilia couldn't understand a word the man in black was saying, aside from her name. All she knew was that everyone's eyes were on her, making her skin crawl uncomfortably. She focused on keeping her nerves in check and smiled tentatively at them. Her smile was returned by everyone except a blonde girl with green clothes, Artemis, and a black-haired man with a black shirt that carried the same red symbol as Superman's outfit, Superboy. The two that were smiling the brightest were the green-skinned girl, Miss Martian, and a redhead with a predominantly yellow and red outfit, Kid Flash. A dark-skinned man with black marks on his arms and light hair, Aqualad, was giving her a friendly look, and a boy who looked the closest to her age and height with black hair and hidden eyes, Robin, had a smirk on his face that was simultaneously friendly and unreadable.

In the blink of an eye, Kid Flash was no longer standing in the doorway and was instead no less than a foot in front of her, about to say something. This sudden change caused Cecilia to yelp and immediately duck behind Batman's large and intimidating form. That was _not_ what she expected. Wonder Woman had said that he was fast, but the older woman had failed to mention that he was _that_ fast.

 _'Still, he probably just wanted to be friendly,'_ Cecilia reasoned with a slight blush, wondering how her fear had affected her "first impression". Quickly checking herself over for crystals formations, she sheepishly peeked out behind her hiding spot to find Wonder Woman, Aqualad, Artemis, and Robin all glaring at Kid Flash, who looked around and asked, "What?"

"Try not to frighten her. The last person she met with powers put her in a two-thousand year coma," Wonder Woman said pointedly. Cecilia still couldn't understand what anyone was saying, and it was starting to bug her. Surely _someone_ could let her know what was going on! It was rude to keep a person out of a conversation.

"Nice job, Baywatch," Artemis growled, walking up to Kid Flash and smacking him in the back of his head hard. He took a few steps away from the blonde and rubbed the impact point, glaring back at her. Cecilia giggled silently. Well, even if she couldn't understand, watching those two would be entertaining enough. They reminded her of Felix and... Cecilia closed her eyes and shook her head to dissipate the memory. Now wasn't the time.

" _We have business to attend to elsewhere. We will be checking in periodically to monitor how you are settling in. For now, these six will be keeping you company,_ " Batman told her, turning around. She nodded to show that she understood, hiding the many questions circulating through her mind. Batman turned and left, and Wonder Woman followed, giving Cecilia an encouraging smile on the way out. And just like that, she was left alone with her six new companions, feeling strangely unprotected without the adults.

"And we're stuck with babysitting duty? Just like that?" Superboy spoke up angrily, crossing his arms and looking each of his friends in the eye. Even through the language barrier, Cecilia knew that he was angry because of her. It was clear that he didn't want her around, and she knew that some of the others must feel the same way. Evidently, first impressions didn't matter. Or she had simply failed.

"Superboy, calm down. I'm not happy about it either, but she does need our help. Batman must have his reasons," Aqualad told the enraged boy, crossing his arms as well. Robin then inputted, "Besides, Batman made it clear that she wasn't going to affect our missions."

"But we can't even speak Latin. How are we supposed to introduce her to the twenty-first century if we can't even talk to her?" Artemis asked sourly. Robin again spoke, "I can speak Latin."

"And we could use the telepathic link," Miss Martian offered. Cecilia frowned as the six people in front of her each seemed to agree to something. What just happened? What did they agree on? Her suspicion must have shown, because Robin stepped forward and addressed her, " _We are going to use a_ telepathic _link to communicate with you. Just... try to stay whelmed._ "

" _Uh... okay... Why must I stay whelmed? And_ telepa- _what?_ " Cecilia questioned cautiously. She was glad that someone _finally_ saw fit to speak to her, but a more thorough explanation would be more helpful. Robin frowned and his eyebrows knitted, and he used his hands to help illustrate what he was saying, " _A_ telepathic _link. It means that Miss Martian is going to link everyone's minds together so that we can communicate._ "

' _How is that possible?'_ Cecilia internally wondered, but she wouldn't question it if it would allow her to talk with the others. She took a deep breath and nodded to Miss Martian. The green-skinned girl smiled again and closed her eyes, putting the first two fingers of both her hands on her temples. Then her eyes opened again, and they were glowing bright green. Too late did Cecilia wonder if a telepathic link was going to hurt.

A weird sensation bounced through Cecilia's head, making her flinch and rub her forehead. It was brief and not painful, thankfully, but it did leave Cecilia a bit... off. She shook her head, " _Well, at least it did not hurt._ "

" _You're... speaking English,_ " Aqualad commented, startled. Everyone else, aside from Robin and Miss Martian, wore a similar expression of confusion. Cecilia gave him an odd look, " _No, you are speaking Latin._ "

" _Actually, neither,_ " Miss Martian corrected. " _Cecilia is still speaking Latin and we are still speaking_ English _, but everyone only hears their respective language. I'm... acting as a_ psychic _translator._ "

 _'Because that makes a whole lot more sense,'_ Cecilia thought sarcastically. She wasn't expecting another voice to join her own, _'And we can also sometimes hear your thoughts. For example, I'm thinking-'_

'We all know what you're thinking, Wally. Try not to scare the new teammate.'

Cecilia's mind blanked as she realized that she had just heard Kid Flash and Artemis _inside her head_. She stared at them, dumbfounded, " _How... How did you..._ "

" _Telepathic link, remember?_ " Robin said, tapping his head twice. Superboy still didn't seem impressed, and his mood had evidently worsened when Artemis called her a new teammate. He stalked off, " _Have fun with your playdate. Tell me if anything interesting happens._ "

The hole in Cecilia's heart returned at the blatant rejection and refused to go away. She held back her tears and was about to excuse herself when Miss Martian apologized, " _Don't mind_ Connor _. He's upset that_ Superman _... never mind. He's really quite nice once you get to know him._ "

" _Oh yeah, he's as soft as a_ teddy bear _,_ " Kid Flash joked. Cecilia frowned, even more confused now, " _I thought that his name was_ Superboy _, not_ Connor _. And what is a_ teddy bear _?_ "

Kid Flash startled her by throwing an arm around her shoulders, " _You don't know what a_ teddy bear _is? We have soooo much to teach you._ "

That reminded her once again of her lost family. Her father had taught her how to play a few musical instruments, her brother had taught her games to play, and her mother had taught her how to cook and clean and sing and... and... Cecilia gently removed his arm and declined, " _Thank you, but no. I am still upset about... I need to..._ "

And just like that, her entire resolve disappeared and tears clouded her vision. She vainly ducked her head and covered her face to hide them, but the strangled whine of held air being forced out and the shaking of her body would have given away her distress anyway. She heard Kid Flash's voice take a serious turn, telling her that it would be okay, and felt a couple hands clasp her small shoulders comfortingly. But as well meaning as they may be, a stranger's comfort is nothing compared to a mother's embrace, something that she would be forever denied.

The hands led her to the living room, and she gratefully sat down on the couch until she could again control herself. She furiously wiped her eyes until they were clear and took deep, shaky, gasping breaths. _'At least only anger and fear cause my powers to manifest. Sadness simply makes it harder to form the stones.'_

 _'Say what now?'_

 _'Wally!'_ Artemis punched Kid Flash in the arm. The redhead rubbed his injury and exclaimed, " _Ow!_ "

" _Cut it out, both of you,_ " Aqualad commanded sternly, causing the two to fall silent. Cecilia worked on steadying her breathing as a long silence held the room in sympathetic deadlock. She was embarrassed and scared and more broken than she ever remembered being in her 1,980 years of existence. The thought made her tear up again, _'Almost two thousand years...'_

" _I know what always cheers me up!_ Cookies _!_ " Miss Martian piped up suddenly, literally flying into the kitchen. Cecilia, grateful for yet another distraction, blinked away her tears and sniffed, " _What are_ cookies _?"_

* * *

 **A/N - I'm not sure if you have figured this out yet, but the dialogue in** ** _italics_** **is Latin and the dialogue not in italics is English. Also, all thoughts are in** ** _italics_** **, whether they are Latin or not, with a** **few** **exceptions. Peace out.**


	5. 5 Welcome to the Future

A warm, mouth-watering scent wafted through the air as the five super-powered teenagers (they had been quick to correct Cecilia when she had asked why they were called children) tried to explain various things to a girl two thousand years out of place. She had learned that, in addition to having superhero names, they also had citizen names and identities that were a secret from the rest of the world, yet only Robin seemed to have any qualms about sharing his with her. They had also shown her the Internet, at which point Wally had begun spouting off a lot of terminology that she didn't know to explain how the World Wide Web worked. By the time she had asked them to stop, her head was aching.

" _Perhaps it would be better if you simply ask us what you want explained,_ " Kaldur suggested lightly. The other agreed both silently and audibly, so Cecilia tried to come up with a question. It was kind of funny, because she had had millions of questions before his suggestion, but immediately afterwards they had all vanished. As she scrambled to find a question, her eyes landed on Robin. " _What do you have on your face?_ "

" _What? My mask?_ " Robin asked, confused. Cecilia nodded, so he explained, " _My mask conceals my eyes from enemies so that they won't know who I am._ "

 _"But you do not have any enemies here,_ " Cecilia pointed out. Kaldur answered her this time, " _We just returned from a mission and didn't have time to change into normal clothes._ "

" _Oh,_ " Cecilia muttered, again out of questions. She felt the weight of carrying the conversation, and it wasn't something that she was used to. So she asked the first thing that came to her mind, " _What was your mission?_ "

The team exchanged glances with each other, as if wondering if they were allowed to disclose that sort of information. Cecilia was worried that they wouldn't answer, but Artemis spoke up amiably, " _There was a guerrilla gorilla attacking people, and we were sent to find out why. Turns out, it was_ Monsieur Mallah _and the_ Brain _. They were using_ inhibitor collars _to control the local animals, enhancing them with_ Cobra Venom _and using them to attack anyone who came near their operation.'_

 _"You should have seen the size of those vultures. And I got a_ souvenir _!"_ Wally exclaimed, holding up a red... something. The object was made of cloth and had a bowl shape to it, with the rim appearing sturdier than the middle. Cecilia made note of the object, evidently called a souvenir, and then pondered the team's mission. She didn't pretend to understand everything, but she got the basic idea. Giant, intelligent animals attacking humans? She suppressed a shiver, " _It sounds as if you have fought Stymphalian birds and other monsters._ "

" _What are Stymphalian birds?_ " M'gann asked from the kitchen, where she was making "cookies", for which Cecilia still hadn't gotten a clear definition. Kaldur patiently explained, " _They are birds of myth who devoured humans. Ironically enough, they were pets of the Greek goddess Artemis, or Roman Diana._ "

There was a moment during which all eyes turned to the blonde girl in green currently perched on the couch's backrest, but it passed quickly when Wally leaned forward in his seat and asked, " _But you know that they're not real, right?_ "

" _My family,_ " Cecilia cleared her throat before it could constrict and continued quickly, " _My family does not believe in such things._ "

" _But you did,_ " Robin commented more than asked. Cecilia laughed a bit and sat up straighter, " _Yes, well, when the entire world believes one thing it is difficult to argue something else._ "

" _Well then, I have a newsflash for ya. Mythological monsters aren't real. There are no Centaurs, Satyrs, or anything else like that. The Roman gods aren't even real,_ " Wally informed her bluntly. Kaldur looked as if he was about to reprimand him, but Robin intervened, " _She needs to know. She can't live her life believing in things that don't exist._ "

' _But I never believed in the Roman gods,'_ Cecilia protested mentally, meaning to keep the thought to herself. If she revealed that she didn't believe in those false gods, then they might discover that she believed in the Hebrew God, and she was not certain that they didn't hate followers of Christ like the Romans had. Still, if they had heard her thought, they didn't comment on account of M'gann announcing that the cookies were done. Wally, unsurprisingly, was the first one to the kitchen, followed by Robin (who hurtled over the back of the couch), and then by Artemis. Cecilia and Kaldur were the only ones to not take a route over the furniture, and were therefore the last ones inside the kitchen.

" _I think that, since Cecilia has never tasted a_ cookie _before, she should get first bite,_ " M'gann suggested. The gathered teammates nodded, except for Wally, who was frozen with his hand to his mouth. His jaws moved up and down slowly, and crumbs fell from behind his hand as he mumbled, " _Um..._ "

" _Looks like Wally beat you to it, but you can still have the second bite,_ " Robin offered. Cecilia smiled at them all gratefully, assuming that this was some kind of honor. Then she picked up one of the cookies and examined it. It was hot to the touch and soft. She was pretty sure that it was some type of bread, but... " _What are these dark things?_ "

"Chocolate chips _,_ " M'gann informed cheerfully, picking up a cookie for herself. Artemis looked stunned, " _You mean that you've never had_ chocolate _before?_ "

" _I've never even heard of it. Must have been something the upper classes enjoyed,_ " Cecilia responded. She quickly bit into her cookie to prevent herself from crying or having to answer anymore questions. Immediately, a wonderful taste unlike anything she remembered spread through her mouth, filling her tongue with happy sensations. Her eyes widened a bit at how surprisingly good it was, and before she knew it her cookie was finished. " _That was amazing. May I have another?_ "

" _Sure! I'm glad you like them,_ " M'gann laughed. Cecilia happily took another of the delicious treats, careful to savor this one. She had pretty much temporarily forgotten about her problems until M'gann asked in her mind, _'Are you feeling better now?'_

 _'A bit,'_ Cecilia answered untruthfully as the weight of everything once again settled against her. Even the food was different now. Was nothing the same?

With another twinge of remorse, Cecilia realized that those cookies were among the first things she's eaten in almost two thousand years, and their wonderful flavor would never be shared with her family - or anyone from her past life, for that matter. She set the remains of her unfinished cookie down. What had she done to deserve this? Why was she here? Why wasn't anyone else going through what she was?

In her contemplation, Cecilia missed the looks exchanged by the teens around her. Then she felt M'gann's hand on her shoulder and heard Kaldur ask softly, " _You know that you can talk to us if you need to, right?_ "

Cecilia nodded but kept her eyes on her half eaten cookie. She wasn't going to talk to them. Not yet. They had only been introduced a couple hours ago. But all the same, she wanted to tell someone, or even something. She just needed to spill it out, but there was no one there that she was close enough to to do it.

" _I'm going to see if Connor or Wolf want any cookies,_ " M'gann excused herself. Cecilia wanted to ask who Wolf was, but she just watched as the green girl held out her hand and the metal sheet the cookies sat on lifted, so that it was flying. Then she flew away with the cookies. Wally seemed a bit upset, but if he was going to say anything Artemis beat him with a yawn, " _I'm tired. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going home._ "

" _Wait, you do not live here? None of you?_ " Cecilia questioned, snapping out of her self-pity. Robin shook his head, " _No, but M'gann and Connor do. And don't worry, we will be back tomorrow. After school, anyways._ "

" _And speaking of school, Artemis is right. We all need some rest. And I am sure that you must be tired as well,_ " Kaldur commented. Cecilia bit her tongue and thought sourly, _'No, not really. I just woke up from a two thousand year nap. I think I'm good for at least another ten years.'_

' _Geez, no need to get bitter about it. We're only trying to help,'_ Wally thought in return. Cecilia sent him an apologetic look, " _I am sorry. There was a reason I did not say that aloud."_

" _It's fine. For now, I think that we just need some sleep. Good night, everyone,_ " Robin said, exiting the kitchen. One by one, the other three left, until Cecilia was standing alone with her unfinished cookie, wondering how things might have turned out differently.


	6. 6 A New Day

**Mount Justice  
September 24, 17:47 EDT**

Cecilia couldn't tell how much time had passed before she brought herself to go to bed, but she was exhausted by the time she had woken up. It was one of those mornings where she just felt dead. _'Of course, I don't know what death feels like. I probably should by now...'_

Swiftly abandoning the thought, she pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around. Her room was still bare, aside from her bed. It sort of reflected how empty she felt inside. Were all the bedrooms like this? _'Wow, that is depressing. Perhaps I could find something to decorate it a bit.'_

With a sigh, she pushed back the warm covers on her bed and, holding her doll tightly, got to her feet. The floor was incredibly cold, and Cecilia was quick to put on her old, closed-toed shoes. She completely ignored the clothes someone had laid at the end of her bed. She hadn't changed in the last 2,000 years, and she wasn't going to give up on her Roman heritage now.

Cecilia debated taking her doll with her to find some breakfast, thought better of it, and gently set the doll down on her pillow before peeking her head outside. She spotted Miss Martian entering the short hallway and felt the telepathic link thingie start up in her head just before the green girl greeted, " _Good morning! I was just coming to check up on you._ "

" _I am awake,_ " Cecilia replied, stepping out of her room fully. The greedy rumbling of her stomach negated the need to say anything more. Miss Martian giggled, " _Hello,_ Megan _! You must be hungry. We still have some_ pancakes _left over from breakfast if you want._ "

"Pancakes _?_ " Cecilia wondered aloud. M'gann only laughed, " _Follow me. I'll heat them up for you._ "

So Cecilia silently followed her back to the kitchen. M'gann talked every now and then, usually whenever they were passing a hallway or room she deemed important, but other than that Cecilia was left to her own thoughts. Her own, lonely, sad thoughts that M'gann could hear thanks to the link. But either because she didn't know what to say or wanted to give Cecilia some privacy, M'gann didn't comment.

" _Here we are! Everybody else is in the Mission Room training. You can come watch, if you want,_ " M'gann offered once they reached the kitchen. Cecilia thought about it as M'gann set a few flat, round, almost golden objects into what she remembered to be the microwave, which beeped a couple times when the green girl tapped it before humming mechanically. Cecilia was a bit unnerved at the noise, but she dismissed it with a sigh. What she really wanted to do was sit in her room and hide from this strange new world, and perhaps either sleep or think about what was happening. But she was already awake, so sleep wasn't really that possible, and thinking would likely lead to more self-pity, which wouldn't help her much. Plus, refusing might be considered rude. So she really didn't have many options.

" _Sure._ "

" _Great!_ " M'gann beamed as the microwave stopped humming and beeped some more. Cecilia barely kept herself from jumping at the sudden alarm, but M'gann barely reacted at all and calmly removed the golden objects, causing the microwave to in turn stop beeping. Cecilia wondered what sort of magic caused the microwave to do that, not fully understanding the "electricity" explanation Wonder Woman had given her yesterday. She understood, of course, that electricity was not magic, but the lack of knowing how it exactly worked gave it a mystical feel that Cecilia was unsure if she liked.

Cecilia took the plate of food from M'gann and watched as she held out her arm once again, causing a stick of butter, a knife, a bottle of some brown liquid, and a fork to hover in the air. Cecilia had to force herself to stand still as the knife spread the butter on the flat objects, then the brown liquid was spread over them, and finally the fork and knife came to a rest on her plate. She had to admit that the smell was welcoming and warm, though sweeter than the cookies had been. Her mouth began to water and her stomach again grumbled in complaint at not already being filled.

" _Come on,_ " M'gann prompted with a wave, already walking out of the kitchen. " _I'll show you where the Mission Room is._ "

" _Okay,_ " was all Cecilia said as she followed the green-skinned girl through Mount Justice, eating her "pancakes" on the way. She tried to focus on not getting the brown liquid, which happened to be very sticky, everywhere and not fall too far behind her guide, meaning that if she were to have to go back to her room alone she would likely end up walking in little lost circles. Not that it really mattered, because she had a feeling that she wasn't going to leave Mount Justice anytime soon.

They reached the Mission Room just as Robin and Wally were leaving the arena, a large, glowing circle in the middle of the room. Everyone was there, including a huge white wolf and a serious-looking blonde woman. The wolf picked up her scent first, drawing the adult's attention, in turn alerting her presence to Artemis and the rest. M'gann must have expanded the mind link because Cecilia could understand Wally when he greeted, " _Mmm,_ pancakes _! Where did you get them?_ "

" _M'gann made them for breakfast this morning,_ " Connor answered, a bit of annoyance in his tone. Artemis looked Cecilia over in shock, " _Did you just wake up? When did you go to sleep?_ "

Cecilia shrugged and continued eating her pancakes, not meeting anyone's gaze. The link dissipated, and she heard the new woman speak, "Is this Cecilia? I didn't know that you knew latin."

"We have been using M'gann's telepathy to communicate," Kaldur replied with obvious respect. Cecilia scowled slightly. She couldn't understand what they were saying. _Again._ Raising her head, she spoke, " _If you are talking about me, can I at least hear what you have to say?_ "

"She wants to know what we're saying," Robin told M'gann, who looked at the older woman for permission. The adult nodded, and Cecilia felt the strange connection in her head reappear. A moment later, the strange new woman introduced herself, " _I am_ Black Canary _. I'm in charge of training here._ "

" _Hello. I am Cecilia. But you already knew that, did you not?_ " Cecilia returned sheepishly. Of course she would have already known... Why had Cecilia spoken at all? That had probably ruined the first impression. Stupid, stupid...

" _Cecilia was going to watch us train. Is... that okay?_ " M'gann asked politely. Black Canary stared at Cecilia for a few moments, but whatever thoughts she had managed to stay off of the link. Cecilia continued to eat her breakfast under the woman's piercing eyes, wishing fervently that she would go back to training. _'And I thought that Batman was intimidating.'_

" _Ha!_ "

Cecilia's head whipped up in surprise at the outburst so fast that it hurt. Whoever had laughed had immediately stopped, but at the sight of Cecilia's reaction Kid Flash made some sort of choking sound before laughing again, this time causing some of the others to chuckle as well. Cecilia felt a confused frown etch itself onto her face. What was so funny?

" _Enough,_ " Black Canary commanded, earning almost immediate silence. "Kid Flash, _since you are having so much fun, why don't you have another go?_ Aqualad _will be your opponent._ "

For a second, Wally seemed dismayed. But then he was in the middle of the arena, smirking, " _You're on!_ "

Kaldur shared a similar look as he took his place on the glowing circle. Everyone was silent, but Cecilia had finally gotten the concept of a psychic link and asked mentally, _'Who do you think will win?'_

 _'No one can match_ Wally _for speed, but_ Kaldur _is definitely the stronger one,'_ M'gann replied. Robin's voice came up, _'Five_ dollars _on_ Kaldur. _'_

 _"Dude!_ " Wally shouted, looking over at Robin. Kaldur used his moment of distraction to attack, catching Wally off guard. The two exchanged punches and kicks while Black Canary narrowed her eyes at everyone else as a warning to stay silent for the moment. After a few seconds, M'gann's thoughts again rang through Cecilia's head, _'_ Black Canary, Kaldur _, and_ Wally _are out of the link for now. We can think freely.'_

 _'I'm putting ten_ dollars _on_ Kaldur, _'_ Artemis added. Cecilia didn't know what a dollar was, but she knew that they were making bets. Whether they were serious bets, she didn't know, so she stayed silent and listened as Superboy threw his lot in, ' _Two_ dollars _for_ Wally. _'_

 _'I'm with_ Connor _. Three_ dollars _for_ Wally, _'_ M'gann finished. So far, it seemed as if Kaldur might just win. The two boys were locked in hand-to-hand combat. Kaldur would throw a punch, Wally would dodge and swing a kick at him, then Kaldur would spin and tap Wally with his own kick. Back and forth and back and forth, so repetitive and yet so swift that it was like watching her mother dance. Cecilia had never been able to go to any gladiator matches, but she imagined that they would be something like this. Attack, counterattack, and repeat. Hit, hit, retreat, again. Wally and Aqualad were sweating, completely engrossed now in winning the battle, and yet they didn't seem to be fighting against each other as much as they were fighting with each other, each move coming with its own beautiful, complimentary countermove.

It was over too soon, with Wally coming out surprisingly victorious. Artemis and Robin groaned slightly, handing M'gann and Connor small, green pieces of paper. Those must be dollars. _'Probably some type of currency.'_

" _And you would be right,_ " Wally praised with a confident, almost gloating smile as he stood proudly in front of his friends. Then he faked injury and cried out, " _I can't believe that you didn't bet on your old friend,_ Rob _! It hurts!_ "

Robin came up behind the ginger and threw an arm good-naturedly around his neck, " _Sorry, I was still remembering your first sparring session. You know, the one where_ Black Canary _-_ "

" _Now there's no need to bring that up,_ " Wally interrupted hurriedly, his face becoming a comical shade of red. Cecilia stifled a laugh, imagination already working on deducing what had happened. He must have been beat pretty soundly to create that type of reaction. Black Canary cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention. Cecilia was afraid for a moment that she had heard Robin's interrupted comment, but she only slowly swept her eyes over each teenager and said, " _Good work today_. _Eat dinner and get some rest. We're doing this again tomorrow._ "

Cecilia glanced down at her empty plate. Dinner? Have Wally and Kaldur been sparring that long? Surely not. But how could it be time for dinner? Her confusion must have shown because Kaldur chuckled softly, " _You slept past midday. That was why we were surprised that you were only just now having breakfast._ "

" _Oh. Thanks,_ " Cecilia murmured in response, following the others as they made their way to the kitchen. A sudden thought turned her mood bitter. _'This would not be the first time I have overslept.'_

" _Cecilia, I would like to have a word with you,_ " Black Canary called, stopping everyone in their tracks. Right, mind link. Cecilia didn't turn around at first, wondering if she was in trouble for being bitter. Her eyes met Artemis's and M'gann's, searching for any sort of hint as to what she was in for. The two girls only gave her apologetic shrugs and encouraging looks that were anything but helpful. She had to force herself not to think the sarcastic "thank you" she so dearly wanted to say and turned around, plate still in hand. Black Canary sighed, "Wally _, can you take her plate to the kitchen? We might be a while._ "

With growing trepidation, Cecilia handed her plate to the redheaded speedster and focused on Black Canary. The blonde woman didn't say anything until the others were out of earshot, creating an incredibly effective aura of suspense that the twelve-year-old had to wait out. Then the older woman smiled kindly and put a hand on her shoulder, " _Follow me. We need to talk._ "

Cecilia obeyed without a word, wondering what on earth she could have done.


	7. 7 Counseling

Cecilia followed Black Canary into a room furnished with two green, cushiony chairs facing each other, small wooden tables on both sides of each chair, and some plants livening up the area. Even though the walls were still rock, the room seemed fairly comfortable. Arguably cozy, perhaps. There was even a relaxing waterfall on the far wall.

Black Canary sat down in one of the chairs and motioned for Cecilia to take the other one. Cecilia obeyed, silent and nervous. She tried to think of something that she possibly could have done to deserve a lecture. Was this about sleeping so late? It wasn't like someone came to wake her, so it wasn't her fault!

" _I can only imagine how devastating it must be to lose your family, your home, only to wake up here, in a world you never knew was possible,_ " Black Canary commented gently after a few moments of contemplative silence. If it was even possible, Cecilia managed to both relax slightly and stiffen. So she wasn't in trouble. It was just a talk about feelings. The twelve year old girl looked into Canary's eyes, studying her face, searching for any sign of insincerity. There weren't any, just a reserved sort of professional kindness, but the woman's words seemed carefully weighed and calculated.

" _I understand. Why open up to someone you don't know?_ " Black Canary reasoned passively. Cecilia gave her a funny look, " _You are trying to manipulate me into sharing my feelings. I do not deny that I feel, but I also will not deny that I find expressing emotions difficult._ "

" _Take your time,_ " Black Canary replied patiently. Cecilia sighed. Was the blonde woman in front of her planning on staying until she spilled? Were either of them allowed to leave until they got through this talk? She might as well open up if she wasn't allowed to go until she did, " _I am not as devastated as you might think. I am more... simply existing. Yes, I am sad, maybe even a bit angry and afraid. Yes, I have cried. But the full reality has yet to sink in, I think._ "

" _You are in shock,_ " Black Canary stated. Cecilia let the idea roll around her head. She was in shock. Well, yes, she was shocked, like if she had suddenly fallen into a cold stream. But it was a bit different. She knew the reality of the situation; she was simply refusing to think about it, refusing to even dwell on her past life. She was willing herself to stay in shock, and she was probably failing in the process.

" _Sure,_ " Cecilia answered with a nonchalant shrug. She looked towards the door, away from the staring woman in front of her. The door was see-through, and so was the wall it was on. To distract herself, she pondered what substance they were made of. It was something both clear and hard, and Cecilia suspected that it might be some sort of glass, but glass was never used in such a way back in Rome. Then again, nothing here was like Rome...

" _You only agreed because you don't want to be here. I am not going to hold you here against your will, but know that you will have to come to terms with your situation eventually, and I will not be able to help if you don't open up a little._ "

Cecilia reluctantly snapped her attention back to Black Canary. She gave the woman a serious glare, " _I do not remember asking for your aid._ "

" _You didn't. I'm offering,_ " she replied in that calm, distantly kind way. Cecilia was beginning to feel as if she was being poked and prodded against her will, as if the woman in front of her wanted only to cut her open and study each private thought bit by bit. She felt manipulated emotionally and mentally. Black Canary was being too careful with her words, and her sentences were coming out too premeditatedly perfect. Anger began to bubble up in Cecilia. She wasn't going to play this woman's game.

Just before Cecilia could open her mouth to politely decline, Black Canary glanced at the armrests of Cecilia's chair, " _Interesting. When you are angry, you lose control of your powers._ "

Anger at being studied in such a way was quickly overcome by fear. Cecilia followed the woman's gaze to her right hand, which had been gripping the armrest in anger. A thin patch of light-emitting stone about as big as her palm was covering the armrest like glowing, warm ice. Without even thinking, Cecilia removed the stone and looked for a place to hide it, only to remember that there was no need to hide it now. She slowly looked back at Black Canary, who was watching her with upmost interest, " _And you are afraid that you will be seen._ "

" _The last time someone saw me use my abilities, I lost my... I ended up here,_ " Cecilia replied strongly at first, but by the end of her simple sentence her voice was soft. She would play the game after all, then.

" _Pretending that your powers don't exist won't ease your guilt or bring your family back. Trust me, I know it's difficult. But you need to practice your powers, not shun them. Learn to control them._ "

" _And why should I? My family is go- g-_ " Cecilia took a moment to clear her throat and reword her phrase, " _I have no one here to control them for. Why should I? Why... why should I even be alive?_ "

" _You should live on because they can not. It will be hard and painful, but you were given a second chance at life that you can't just throw away,_ " Black Canary answered with all the patience and wisdom Cecilia had ever heard. The twelve-year-old looked down at her hands, now carefully folded in her lap. She had been given a second chance. Why? Why must God choose her to live, and rip her away from her family and friends and home? If only Paul was here to answer her questions, or maybe Jesus himself. But Cecilia still remembered what her parents had taught her. She still remembered that there was a reason beyond her own understanding for her powers and that God was always controlling things for the good of those who loved him, even if it didn't always seem that way.

Cecilia allowed herself to take comfort in that belief, and when she looked back up at Black Canary, she was no longer hostile. She was far from happy, but she was better than before. Black Canary smiled knowingly, " _I think that we have made some good progress today. If you don't mind, I want to see you again sometime. But for now, get some rest. I would like you to start practicing your powers tomorrow after your tutor leaves. He cancelled today, which is why you were allowed to sleep in so late. Tomorrow will be hard, but know that you can always talk to me._ "

Cecilia nodded, relieved that she could finally join the others in the kitchen - if she could find her way back. She stood up to leave, but she paused at the door. With a glance back, she gave Black Canary a small, grateful smile, " _Thank you._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, another Author's Note. Sorry. I just wanted to try and deter any hate coming my way before they reach the reviews (although if you would still like to flame there, I can't exactly stop you). Yes, Cecilia is a Christian, for those of you who haven't been paying that much attention. No, this will not affect the plot and, no, it is not historically impossible. It just seemed like the best logical course of action to take with her. So if you want to, go ahead and hate. It's my story anyway.  
Also, I apologize if that seemed rude and snobbish... And my apologies if this chapter stunk...**

 **Thanks to** ** _Guest_** **,** ** _anon_** **,** ** _Nightcat_ , and _butterfly1774_** **for reviewing!**

 **To** ** _Guest_** **: Yeah, I can see your concerns, and I would be thinking the exact same thing if I didn't already know what's going to happen. To be honest, this story is not going to be a romance book. It's going to be so much more, if I write it correctly, and her romance with Robin isn't going to be the main focus (or show up for a long time). So don't worry! ... But if you're still reading this, I'd appreciate more honest feedback like this. Thanks!**

 **To** ** _anon_** **: I think that you should be a politician or something, but I also have no idea how your review correlated with my story. It was a very thought-out and intelligent and** ** _long_** **review that I nevertheless read through, but I think that there are more appropriate places to post such things. But thank you anyway!**

 **To** ** _Nightcat_** **: That's why I like , it allows guests to comment. Well, I don't think... I... *thinks about it a little more* Okay, I can see where you're coming from. The only problem is that I already have most of the story loosely planned out, and I'd have to rewrite most if not all of it to accommodate, but that is a very good idea that I will consider. Thanks!**


	8. 8 Captain Marvel

Cecilia managed to find her way back to the Mission Room, but after that she quickly became lost. There were a couple different hallways she could take, and all of them looked exactly the same. Cecilia frowned and sighed, rubbing her temples gently. This was way too confusing. Who decided to create such a large building for only three people to live in, anyway? Who even used all of these rooms?

' _Um, everyone? How do I get back to the kitchen?_ ' Cecilia asked, praying that the mind link was still open. There was a moment of silence, during which Cecilia thought that no one had heard her and, therefore, she would stay stuck. But then M'gann's voice popped into her head, ' _Where are you? Are you done talking to Black Canary?_ '

' _Yes, we are done talking. And I'm in the Mission Room,_ ' Cecilia replied, walking around the perimeter of the room. She noticed that two hallways not even half a foot away from each other weren't really hallways at all. They stopped abruptly just a few yards in. ' _What a waste of space._ '

' _Excuse me?_ ' Kaldur's voice asked, sounding a bit offended. Cecilia was quick to clarify, ' _There are these two identical, circular hallways that just stop. Why? What is in them?_ '

In response, several of their voices began speaking at once, quickly giving Cecilia a pounding headache. And to make matters worse, she couldn't understand a word of what they were trying to tell her. Thankfully, M'gann shut everyone out of the mind link and spoke clearly, ' _Do not enter either of those hallways!_ '

' _Okay. Why not?_ ' Cecilia asked curiously, moving a respectful distance back. What could they possibly do? M'gann didn't get to answer before the twelve-year-old found out. Cecilia began to back away from the incomplete hallways some more as one of them began to emit a strange, yellow light. ' _Uh, M'gann?_ '

"Recognized: Captain Marvel. One, five," a disembodied female voice announced as a tall man with black hair, bulging muscles, blue eyes, and a childish grin materialized out of the yellow light. The light faded just as he greeted in a rich voice, "Hi! You must be new. I'm Captain Marvel. What's your name?"

If Cecilia had been paying more attention to the list of Justice League members Wonder Woman had shown her the previous night, Cecilia would have recognized both his appearance and name. But as it was, she couldn't understand what he was saying, and her mind blanked until M'gann answered, ' _Sorry, Connor needed help with something. What's wrong?_ '

' _A MAN JUST APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE AND I DO NOT KNOW WHO HE IS! HELP!_ ' Cecilia screamed in her mind, frozen to the floor as she stared at the newcomer. So much for her talk with Black Canary; now she was terrified all over again. Memories of her last day in Rome flitted through her mind, making her turn tail and sprint away as fast as she could before she could even register her actions. The man behind her called out something and M'gann was relaying information into her head, but Cecilia payed attention to none of it as she ran blindly through the hallways like a startled rabbit.

Suddenly, she wasn't running anymore. Someone was holding her as _he_ ran, one hand under her knees and another behind her back. Cecilia panicked and looked up, expecting to see the strange newcomer, but was relieved to find that it was only Wally. The redhead smiled easily as he slid to a stop in the hallway outside the kitchen and commented, "I have this damsel-in-distress-rescuing thing down! Uh, why are you glowing?"

Cecilia heard the question in his voice and assumed that he had asked about the stranger. She pointed back the way they had come and shouted hysterically, " _That man! He- he- you- he-_ "

"Woah, slow down!" Wally said, setting her down as the others ran out of the kitchen. Wally turned to them helplessly as Cecilia leaned against the wall for support. She tried to take deep breaths and told herself, ' _You are simply overreacting. You are safe here. No one will get hurt this time. He probably was not even hostile. Would that not be funny? You ran away from an ally and thought he was a foe. Simply hilarious._ '

Cecilia was about as far from laughter as she had ever been in her entire life. She could hear Wally and the others talking, but nothing made any sense at all, not even M'gann could be understood. The mind link must have been taken down. Not that it really mattered to Cecilia. She was simply attempting to recover from her shock.

" _What did this man look like?_ " Robin caught Cecilia's attention as the others debated something. Even though his eyes were hidden, it was clear that he was staring into her own, not in either a demanding or probing way but with a practiced, genuine question. Cecilia took a deep breath - a last attempt to calm herself - and replied as best she could, " _He had light skin, black hair, and blue eyes. And he was huge, maybe even stronger than Superman._ "

Robin nodded periodically as she described the stranger and asked when she was finished, " _What was he wearing?_ "

Cecilia thought that this was an odd question, but she answered anyways, " _He was wearing red clothes with a golden lightning bolt on the front, a white cape to the side, and golden trimming. He is not… some sort of villain, is he?_ "

Robin smiled at this and turned to his friends, who had evidently made a decision on what they were going to do, "It's only Captain Marvel. I can't believe he frightened her."

"We should not make assumptions, both on what she has been through and whoever might be in the Mission Room," Kaldur replied calmly. Cecilia felt an all-too-familiar annoyance beginning to creep up on her again. She needed an answer, and she was left out of the conversation _again_. That was normally just impolite, but now it was also alarming.

"But she described Captain Marvel's appearance perfectly! Only a Justice League member could get in here without raising an alarm, and who else actually has a reason to be here?" Robin argued. Connor replied this time, "Don't you remember what happened when we assumed that Mister Twister was Red Tornado?"

M'gann looked away in apparent shame, and Connor seemed to instantly regret his words, but Artemis added before he could continue, "And don't forget about Red's siblings."

This created somewhat of a bitter, remorseful reaction in all of them. Cecilia watched on in confusion, wishing that she knew what they were saying. It was bad enough that she didn't know if she had run from a friend or foe, but now they had some obviously sad secret that she didn't know about. " _This is rude. Can you please tell me what is going on?_ "

"Yeah, I would like to know what's going on, too," a rich voice sounded from the end of the hall. Cecilia turned, fearful again as the strange new man stepped into view, his youthful smile replaced by a comically confused frown. Robin crossed his arms and gave Kaldur an "I told you" look while Artemis sputtered, "Wait, you can understand her?"

"Makes sense with the whole Wisdom of Solomon thing," Wally answered. Cecilia felt better seeing that no one was visibly hostile to the newcomer, but she still inched herself behind the nearest person - Kaldur - just to be safe. M'gann gave her one look before Cecilia felt the mind link come back. Finally, she could understand, and they could understand her, " _So… I am assuming that you are an ally?_ "

" _Yep! I'm Captain Marvel,_ " the man replied cheerfully, putting his hands on his hips in some sort of pose. Cecilia cracked a smile. It was a small smile, but a smile nonetheless. For such a large man, he acted kind of childish, reminding her of her brother Felix. She returned the introduction, and she came out of hiding behind Kaldur, " _My name is Cecilia, and I apologize for reacting the way I did._ "

" _Oh, so you're Cecilia! It's nice to meet you. And Wonder Woman told me what happened, so it's fine. I must have scared you pretty badly, though,_ " Captain Marvel replied amiably. Cecilia wondered what he meant, but the more pressing question of who else did Wonder Woman tell robbed her thoughts for a moment. She stole a glance at the people around her. Sure, the adults should know, but her new friends? She wasn't sure if she was comfortable with that just yet…

Then his statement about scaring her bounced back to the forefront of her thoughts, along with what it implied. She immediately held her arms up to eye level, looking over her body for the first time since her chat with Black Canary. They were covered in the glowing stone, not just spotted with patches of it but completely covered. Her joints were largely unaffected, a bit patched over yet still allowing movement, but everything else had about a quarter of an inch of coating.

The teenagers around her didn't seem too surprised, but Cecilia supposed that she had looked this way since Captain Marvel had startled her, so their shock would have already passed. Still, Wally had the insensibility to ask aloud, " _So there's a reason she's glowing? Ow!_ "

This time, Connor had cuffed Wally's head, but the damage had been done. Cecilia stiffly held in whatever emotion threatened to spill out and walked towards her room, shakily telling Captain Marvel as she passed, " _I might need_ Zatara _'s help._ "

* * *

Captain Marvel watched as the Team glared at Wally, who just gave them all a confused, defiant look, "What?"

"So there's a reason she was covered in that stuff?" Artemis asked once Cecilia had left the hall. Captain Marvel nodded, bewildered, "Yes. You guys didn't know?"

"Know what? What aren't they telling us?" Connor demanded, never one to appreciate secrets. M'gann put a hand on his shoulder to calm him, "She's only been awake for about a day. I'm sure that they don't know that much."

"Batman hasn't even told me anything yet," Robin added. Captain Marvel scratched his head, caught in a pickle. they were surely going to ask him to explain everything, but if no one else had told them then it really wasn't his place. And yet, they were going to find out eventually, and he really wanted them to like him…

So when the Team all turned to him, silently asking for answers, he compromised, "She should really be the one to tell you her backstory, but I will tell you what we know about her powers. From the sample Wonder Woman obtained, the Justice League has been able to figure out that she can create these sort of light crystals - literally crystals made from light. From what I'm told, she can drain a crystal's energy to keep herself alive, which is why she's still living. But she can't control them very well, at least not yet."

"Is that all?" Kaldur asked. Captain Marvel nodded excitedly, "Yeah, it's really cool, actually. And I would love to explain more, but I don't know anything else myself, and I think that she'll need Zatara's magic to get those crystals off of her arms, so I'll see you guys later!"

And with that, Captain Marvel sped off, leaving behind a curious group of teenagers that really wanted answers.


	9. 9 Opening Up

Cecilia laid on her bed, for the umpteenth time willing herself not to burst out in tears. She hated it. All of it. She knew that she had a legitimate excuse to be emotionally unstable, but she loathed the feeling of insecurity it brought. And she was afraid. She could have put herself in another 2,000 year coma. What would have happened to her then? And now her new friends knew what she could do. How would that affect everything?

She chuckled to herself humorlessly. "Friend" was such a strong word. They were still more acquaintances than anything. And yet they knew more about her now than almost anyone back in Rome.

She was freaking out over nothing. She was safe here. Nothing was going to harm her, and it wasn't as if she was the only one with special abilities. No one was going to judge her, no one was going to harm her, and Zatara could always get her out if she put herself in another coma. There was nothing to fear.

Except, perhaps, fear itself. And anger. But other than that, she was fine.

A knock sounded on the door. Zatara. Cecilia let out a relieved breath at how quickly he had come and called, " _You may enter._ "

"Um, is that a 'Come in'?" M'gann's voice questioned. A second later, Artemis's voice joined hers, annoyed, "We won't know until you use the mind link."

"But what if she doesn't want us to use the mind link?"

"Well, we wouldn't know, because we can't understand her without it!"

"This was a bad idea. I doubt that she wants to talk. We should just tell the others-"

"Like Wally really won't drop the subject? It's better that we do this now before he decides to ask her himself."

Cecilia quickly stood up, hurried to the door, and opened it, hiding her still-glowing body behind the door and interrupting their obvious argument. Knowing that she would never understand what they wanted without the mind link, she tapped her temples pointedly. Artemis looked somewhat victorious as M'gann connected their minds.

" _What do you want?_ " Cecilia asked with a bit more hostility than she meant. The two girls before her exchanged quick looks before M'gann explained, " _We - that is, the Team - want to know what happened. I- if you don't mind sharing, of course._ "

Sharing. Wasn't that what Black Canary had wanted her to do? And now Artemis and M'gann wanted her to share as well. Was that so difficult? Yes, yes it was. She already felt exposed and insecure, and she was almost certain that opening her most recent wounds wider would not help in any way. And yet hadn't Black Canary said, _"You will have to come to terms with your situation eventually"_?

Holding onto her past wasn't going to help her, either. She knew, deep down, that she needed to talk, and perhaps even wanted to talk. And, somehow, she knew that her new friends wouldn't look at her as if she was some fragile thing that could break at any moment. She needed to talk now, more than anytime before in her life. She needed to unload everything she was carrying, to break the dam of heartbreak threatening to overflow, even if it was to some teenagers she met yesterday. She couldn't hold it in any longer.

' _But it hurts so much,_ ' Cecilia whined mentally, tears forming in her eyes. It wasn't long before she was crying again, though this time she didn't restrain her emotions. The two older girls gently led her back to her bed and held her tightly, and she held them back with almost a desperation, resting her head on one of their shoulders. Someone was rhythmically stroking her hair and humming words of comfort, gradually soothing her until her eyes ran dry and her lungs decided to stop spasming with gasps and hiccups. Softly, Artemis prompted, " _Cecilia, you can trust us. Tell us what happened._ "

Cecilia nodded and took a few moments to collect her thoughts. What was she going to say? What did they want to know? Should she tell them the whole story, or just a synopsis? She opted for a long summary, " _My father, Tiberius, was a musician, and my mother and I sometimes performed with him. A centurion in Perusia wanted us to play for him regularly, so we were moving from Rome to the centurion's city. I was scared of moving and accidentally created some of my stones on the road. A stranger - a foreigner - saw them and approached us with the proposition of taking over Rome and ruling as gods. He was weird. My parents and I refused, and he became angry. He- he-_ " Cecilia had to pause to swallow the well of pain that wanted to overtake her, " _I do not know what happened to my father, but a wall of rock separated us. My mother, Priscilla, and I ran as fast as we could, but I tripped and the road swallowed Mother's feet so that she could not move. Then- then-_ " another pause to control herself, " _then the man appeared and made the ground open up under me. I fell in, and that is the last thing I remember…_ "

There, her whole story. Yet even if she had spent an hour recounting it, her tale would never fully express the horror or sheer terror she felt, nor illustrate the look in her mother's green eyes as her only daughter was consumed by the earth…

The two older girls on either side of Cecilia were silent, so she continued, bringing her greatest fears to the light, " _I still do not know what became of my parents, or my brother Felix. I do not know if the man killed my father, or left my mother half buried in the road, or how they coped if they lived, and I will never know what happened to any of them. It is all my fault. If I had not created these stones, or if I had just given in, or if I had not tripped, or if I-_ "

" _Shh, shh… Hey, it's not your fault,_ " Artemis cooed softly. M'gann continued to stroke her hair gently, " _You can't blame yourself, Cecilia. There was nothing you could do. It wasn't your fault. It was that man's._ "

" _If he were still alive today, I would put an arrow through his eye socket for you,_ " Artemis vowed, hugging her closer. Cecilia sniffed gratefully, even though the threat was likely exaggerated. She never had older sisters, but this was what she imagined that it would feel like: being cuddled and held when she was hurting, being protected and unabashed when she was scared, and being watched over and taken care of when she was weak.

" _Thank you,_ " Cecilia told them with a faint smile, closing her eyes and allowing the safety of the moment to wash over her. She felt better with everything off of her chest, even to the point where she felt temporarily at peace.

But like all perfect moments, this one had to end. There was a knock on the door, and Zatara asked, "May I come in?"

Cecilia turned to Artemis for a translation, but the older girl only stood up and let the man in. He seemed surprised to see Artemis and M'gann, but the surprise left as he focused on Cecilia, "I can come back later, if you wish."

M'gann sighed at Cecilia's obvious confusion and extended the mind link to Zatara, who merely blinked and asked again, " _Sorry, I had forgotten that you wouldn't understand me. Would you like me to come back later?_ "

Cecilia looked down at her arms again. They were still coated in the light-producing stones, although she had removed the patches on her joints. Her peace was interrupted by a twinge of shame and self-dislike, which she hid as she answered, " _No, now is fine._ "

Zatara gave her a kind smile as he entered the room and knelt in front of the twelve-year-old, holding a black stick with a white tip over her arms. Then he began reciting some incantation - or perhaps it was simply gibberish - and one by one each stone seemed to melt off of her body, landing on the ground with a soft thunk.

And even though the process took a long while, Artemis and M'gann never left her side.


	10. 10 A New Routine

**Mount Justice  
September 25, 06:00 EDT**

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Cecilia woke with a start the next morning, covered in sweat and her covers strewn all over the bed. The alarm clock on the desk beside her bed - both a blessing and a curse - screamed angrily to get ready for the day. Cecilia slammed her hand against the small device, pressing the button that M'gann had shown her the night before. The loud, blaring noise stopped, allowing her racing heart and mind to catch up to all that had happened.

She had had a nightmare - which is why the alarm clock had partly been a blessing. In the nightmare, her mother and father had accused her of murdering them, then her brother had wept that he was being replaced by her new friends, and then the strange foreigner had buried Cecilia and her new friends alive in Mount Justice.

Gripping her doll tightly, she wondered, trembling and dismayed, ' _When will I be free of this? Why must emotion and grief be difficult?_ '

' _Because you do not want to let go,_ ' something inside her realized. Dismay turned to loss and confusion, ' _But holding on is not a bad thing. My family would not wish to be forgotten._ '

' _But holding on is a bad thing when it weighs you down, and they would not wish for you to be caught in the past. You must move on, yet remember. Continue with a lighter load, and therefore a lighter heart,_ ' that same deep part of her soul argued. Now Cecilia just felt conflicted. She didn't want to move on, even though she knew that she had to. She didn't want to give up the memories of her past, just like she didn't want to revisit them. She had to do _something_ , but _anything_ she did ended in pain and guilt, nothing led to a painless road and everything hurt.

After waiting a few more minutes than she ought to, lamenting the loss of her mother's comfort and wisdom, Cecilia forced herself to move into the day, making up her mind. For the first time, she grabbed the new set of clothes someone had left on the end of her bed, trusting Artemis's promise that they wouldn't get rid of her original Roman attire. Then she headed for the showers, which both older girls had shown her the previous night.

Thanks to the crash-course instructions they had given her, Cecilia managed to clean herself without too many bumps and emerged from the showers half an hour later wearing a plain, blue shirt that was a touch too big, khaki shorts, and some sandals. The weirdest part was the shorts, which were very uncomfortable for someone used to wearing a dress.

Once she had dropped off her old clothes in her room, Cecilia headed to the kitchen, where M'gann had promised a special treat. Connor was already there, cutting a slice of bread topped with some powdery white substance and the same sticky brown liquid that were on her pancakes. Cecilia looked over at M'gann and noticed the cracked eggshells that the older girl was throwing away, the sliced bread loaf on the counter, the now empty pan and bowl, and the two plates stacked with bread slices in a similar condition to Connor's.

Cecilia didn't even notice the mind link go up until M'gann handed her one of the plates, " _Eat up! I made_ French Toast _, so I hope you like it._ "

" _Thank you,_ " Cecilia told her as gratefully and sincerely as she could. Then she began to eat, truly thankful for everything. Including the excellent food.

" _It's_ Saturday, _so everyone should be over soon. Assuming that_ Batman _doesn't give us anymore missions, we should have most of the day off,_ " M'gann announced before she began eating her own French Toast. Connor shook his head, "Black Canary _wants us to train some more, and I know that Cecilia has a private tutor coming today._ "

" _Hello,_ Megan _! I'd forgotten about that. I guess we'll have to cancel the shopping trip, then._ "

Both Cecilia and Connor nearly choked on their food, and the latter asked, " _What?_ "

"Artemis _and I were planning on taking Cecilia shopping in_ Happy Harbor," M'gann explained, blushing lightly in embarrassment as she stuttered softly, " _Since, you know, we thought that… um… She might want some new clothes..._ "

" _Thank you,_ " Cecilia again told her, this time in an attempt to distract her from her awkwardness. M'gann shot her a grateful glance before moving on, " _Maybe we can all do something else after training instead. What do you think,_ Connor _?_ "

The teenager in question looked unprepared for a split second, then his expression switched back to its normal neutrality as he thought. It was several minutes before Cecilia heard him answer, " _Maybe we could watch a_ movie."

" _That's a great idea! Maybe we could watch_ _Hercules_ _or something like that,_ " M'gann beamed. Connor smiled slightly, evidently happy that she liked his idea. Cecilia looked at M'gann, then Connor, and then back to M'gann. " _What is a_ movie _?_ "

M'gann looked to Connor, who pointed to the television (if Cecilia remembered the correct word) in the living room, " _See that? It allows us to watch moving, talking pictures that tell a story._ "

Cecilia had to keep herself from giving Connor a "you are out of your mind" look. This was the future, after all. They had showers, microwaves, hallways that generate living beings, and sliced bread. Who was to say that pictures couldn't walk and talk, too?

At this point, everyone was finished with their breakfast, so all three of them went up to the mission room together. They arrived just as the light was fading from one of the strange hallways, revealing Robin, who's appearance was announced by the same disembodied female voice that had announced Captain Marvel's arrival, "Recognized: Robin. B, zero, one."

Not having to run in terror from strange men this time, Cecilia jumped and looked around for the owner of the voice. Someone - Robin - laughed as she looked up at the ceiling, " _There's no one there._ "

" _Then where did the voice come from?_ " Cecilia challenged, crossing her arms. Robin gave her a concerned look, " _It's an_ intercom _. There are_ speakers _on the ceiling that announce the name and designation of whoever just arrived. We really need to get it to announce throughout_ The Cave _, though… Especially after yesterday..._ "

"Recognized: Kid Flash. B, zero, three."

" _And what are those things called, anyway?_ " Cecilia asked, pointing a finger at the tunnel Wally had just materialized from. She realized then that no one present was wearing their usual outfits - aside from Connor, anyways. Instead, everyone had on clothes similar to Cecilia's, except the guys had on longer sleeves, and Robin was still covering his eyes.

"Recognized: Aqualad. B, zero, two. Recognized: Artemis. B, zero, seven."

" _They're called_ Zeta-tubes _. They transport people instantly from one place to another,_ " Robin explained patiently, yet with some degree of either awe or excitement or pride. Wally zipped over and laughed, putting an arm around Cecilia, " _It sure beats running!_ "

And once again, Cecilia was amazed by the inventions of the future. But any more questions were stalled by the female voice announcing, "Recognized: Black Canary. One, three."

"Good, you are all here. We're going to start training right away. Cecilia, your tutor is already in the room I spoke to you in yesterday. Can you find your way there?"

" _Uh…_ "

" _Hello,_ Megan _! Black Canary wants to know if you can find your way back to the room she spoke to you in yesterday. Apparently, your tutor will be there,_ " M'gann translated. Cecilia nodded promptly and immediately set out for the designated room, tired of having other people translate everything. She needed to understand the language everyone kept using. To her, it was no longer a want, but a necessity. She needed to move into the world that she was in now, whether she wanted to or not.

An older gentleman with graying hair, light skin, a stiff posture, and really old eyes was sitting in one of the green, cushiony chairs when Cecilia found and entered the correct room. She smiled at him and, despite her immediate guess on his personality, he smiled back and spoke in fluent Latin, " _Greetings. I am_ Doctor Jones _. As you can see, I have set up a small_ computer _for you to use while I am teaching you the various subjects you will need in order to join a proper school with other students your age._ "

Cecilia was less confused listening to Wonder Woman explain electricity. Doctor Jones had lost her attention at "As you can see". But she did notice the small device in between the two chairs, which were still facing each other. As she sat down, the device projected an image - really just a white rectangle - into the air in front of her, blocking most of Doctor Jones in the process. Almost perpendicular to this image was a series of little squares in three neat rows, all with various symbols on them that Cecilia recognized to be letters. The letter "A" appeared on the screen, along with an apple, and Doctor Jones cleared his throat, " _Let us begin._ "


	11. 11 Recreation

If there was anything Cecilia had learned about the modern world, it was this: Doctor Jones was as boring as watching a weed grow. Which, by the way, Cecilia had tried back in Rome, so she could honestly relate the two. But he was blessedly more productive than a weed, and she did learn a lot about English. But that could be because Latin and English were so similar in so many ways, and she hadn't managed to learn that much math or science, so perhaps Doctor Jones wasn't productive after all…

But he did give a lot of homework for her to do, and he had forbidden her from using Latin unless it was necessary, claiming that she would learn English faster if she was fully submerged by it. Cecilia let out a low growl as she carried the four varyingly giant books he had given her to the living room. Perhaps one of the older children could help her with her work. If they were finished with training, that is.

Evidently, they were. The boys were gathered in the living room around the television as Robin and Wally sat on the ground, fiddling with some little black box that had string-like things attached to it. Neither of the older girls were to be seen, but Cecilia didn't think much of it. Kaldur was the first to notice her arrival and greeted, "Greetings, Cecilia. Here, let me help you."

"Hello," Cecilia replied after a moment, her English oddly accented but discernible nonetheless, surprising everyone in the room. Kaldur took three of her heavier books and laid them on the couch while Cecilia kept the last one, titled _Aesop's Fables for Children_ , sat down beside Kaldur, and opened it up to a picture of a fox and a crow. It had exactly four words on the entire page, which she read aloud with some difficulty, "There… was a… fox."

"Are you really going to read that entire book?" Wally asked, abandoning the little black box for a moment. "We're going to watch a Disney movie, and Robin 'found' one with Latin subtitles, so if you would like to do that instead…"

Cecilia frowned as she tried to decipher all that Wally had said, but it was useless. She shrugged bashfully, "I do not understand."

"I think that it is important for Cecilia to do her schoolwork. If her tutor has assigned that book, then there must be a reason," Kaldur stated. Wally wouldn't have it, "Yeah, to bore her to death! Trust me, English is a stupid language, plus Robin keeps butchering it with the whole 'whelmed' thing, so there isn't much of a point studying it."

"I don't butcher-" Robin started defiantly. Wally interrupted him.

"Yes, you do."

"No, 'whelmed' is an actual word! Look it up!"

"Unless you're carrying a dictionary in that utility belt-"

Kaldur held up one of the books Doctor Jones had given Cecilia, "Actually, there is no need."

Cecilia watched in bewildered amusement as Wally, grumbling, took the large book from Kaldur and flipped through it. He stopped on a certain page, frowned, then tilted his head to the side, "Huh, it is a real word."

"Told you!" Robin gloated, smirking. Cecilia giggled as the two friends went back and forth, knowing somehow that whatever insults they threw at each other were insincere and playful. Connor was watching them from the other side of the room with a similar expression of interest, while Kaldur just shook his head and sighed.

"We're back!" M'gann's voice floated into the living room, effectively ending the teenagers' dispute. Cecilia turned to see Artemis and M'gann enter, each carrying a couple of large, white paper bags. They seemed surprised to see Cecilia, but their surprise was quickly replaced with general happiness as M'gann pulled something out of a bag, "We went shopping. I just hope that they all fit."

She was holding a light purple, short, sleeveless dress covered with tiny flowery patterns, complete with a darker purple ribbon around the waist. Cecilia instantly smiled. The shorts she had on were still incredibly uncomfortable.

Cecilia felt the mind link come back on, and she quickly shook her head and waved her hands to stop it, speaking carefully, "No Latin! English."

"Why?" Artemis questioned, exchanging a confused look with M'gann. Cecilia tried to remember words to explain, failed, and simply shrugged as an answer. Then she proudly held up the huge book she was trying to interpret, "I can read!"

"'Can' is a strong word," Wally muttered jokingly, earning a light glare from Kaldur. Wally threw his hands into the air in exasperation, "Everything I say is wrong."

M'gann and Cecilia both chuckled at that, even though the latter didn't understand all of the words Wally used. Artemis merely smiled, as if she had just witnessed something truly funny but not enough for her to fully reveal it. Wally gave all three girls a flirtatious smile at the attention, winking at M'gann, and Cecilia noticed that Connor shifted a bit from the other side of the room.

"So what are you reading?" M'gann asked, leaving the bags in the kitchen and sitting down beside Cecilia. Artemis did the same, gently taking the book from Cecilia, "Aesop's fables. I suppose that your tutoring went well? You spent at least six hours in there."

"I have work," Cecilia responded with a shrug, pointing to the three books piled beside Kaldur. Robin glanced at the books, then looked at her, "When do you have to finish all of that?"

Again, Cecilia didn't understand enough English to decipher what he had asked, so she simply shrugged again, "I do not know."

' _Stop shrugging so much,_ ' she reprimanded herself sheepishly as Connor abandoned the far wall in favor of sitting beside M'gann. She looked back down at her book, now in Artemis's hands, and continued to read, "The fox was hu- hun-gr-y."

"Is this the one where he tricks the crow into giving him some cheese?" Wally asked loudly. "Because I've never understood why the fox wanted cheese. I mean, don't they eat meat? Why didn't he just trick the crow into flying down, then he could have killed the crow and eaten both it and the cheese."

"Because this is supposed to be a children's book. Typically, they avoid violence," Kaldur answered pointedly. Wally shrugged and glanced over at Cecilia, "Sure, but she's a Roman. Y'know, gladiator fights, starved lions eating people; they practically invented recreational violence."

"What is… recrea- re- rec-" Cecilia tried to ask, stumbling over the word.

"Recreational?" Robin clarified. "It describes something that you do for fun."

"Like watching a movie, if we can get this DVD player hooked up to the TV," Wally grumbled, tapping the black box he was working on. Cecilia glanced down at her book, then to the black box, then to her two "sisters", then back to her book. She squinted at the next few words, then abruptly closed it in Artemis's lap, "This is hard."

"Ha! Told you English was stupid!" Wally announced triumphantly. "Science is much more interesting."

"No way! Without math, there wouldn't even be science."

"Says the mathlete who makes up words."

"You are so not feeling the aster."

"See!"

Artemis rolled her eyes at the two boys, "If they weren't best friends, they would be mortal enemies. But let's see if we can make this book a little more interesting, at least until they can get the movie set up."

Cecilia scooted a bit closer to the older girl as she opened the book back up and began to read. Cecilia was familiar with the story; it was a favorite of her brother's. But she could tell that Artemis hadn't heard it before. The older girl kept frowning at different parts, as if questioning something, but she generally kept going without asking anything out loud. By the time Robin and Wally had the DVD player figured out, Artemis was midway through the fourth tale, this one about how the crow was cleverly filling a water jug with stones.

"Okay, let's get this party started!" Wally proclaimed, jumping onto the couch beside M'gann. Connor gave him a sideways look, but shrugged off whatever he was thinking as Robin did a little flip onto the couch, landing neatly in between Wally and Cecilia. Wally gave his friend a light glare, "Show off."

"And you're not?" Robin smirked. Cecilia chuckled, busying herself with putting the storybook away to hide her amusement. Then she returned to her seat as Wally, in a blur of motion, turned the lights off and began the movie.


	12. 12 Movies and Moves

Near the climax of _WALL-E_ , when one of the evil robots had fried WALL-E and sent him and his true love, EVE, down the waste disposal, the lights turned back on. Everyone (minus Robin) had to squint in the sudden brightness, and Cecilia shrunk down in her seat as she heard Black Canary's stern and mildly annoyed voice, "Cecilia, you're late for training."

Several of the older teens protested at this. Wally's complaint was the loudest, "But it's important! We're educating her on the twenty-first century!"

"That movie takes place in the future."

"But it's modern entertainment," Wally defended himself. Black Canary seemed less than impressed, then her eyes focused on the movie, "Are those... Latin subtitles?"

"Yes," Robin answered nonchalantly. Black Canary just shook her head, "I don't even want to know. But Cecilia needs to come train."

"WALL-E is hurt!" Cecilia exclaimed as if that excused her from training, pointing at the still running movie. Now they were both trapped in giant cubes of garbage and about to be accidentally expelled from the ship. Cecilia was on the edge of the couch seat and her heart was breaking. She liked WALL-E and EVE! They couldn't die! They needed to live and go back to earth and get married and have little baby robots and live happily forever.

"I see that, but... Are you crying?" Black Canary asked suddenly, concerned. Cecilia tried to hide her face as everyone turned to look at her, attempting to discreetly wipe the tears from her eyes. Her hands indeed came away wet, and she sniffed defiantly in a last-ditch effort to stay, as Robin would put it, "whelmed". No one was buying it, and M'gann asked, "Cecilia, are you all right?"

"WALL-E is hurt!" Cecilia again pointed out with her limited vocabulary, watching as EVE frantically tried to find something to save WALL-E's life. The little robot was feebly trying to give her the plant that would bring everybody back to earth, but she kept rejecting it, desperate to keep him alive. Cecilia was fairly certain that the little hero was going to die. She was even debating asking Robin or Artemis what was going to happen, which she had been doing whenever something appeared that she didn't understand (which was the entire first half of the movie, despite the Latin subtitles).

"You know that they aren't real, right?" Black Canary gently questioned. Cecilia made a confused face, "What does 'real' mean?"

The older woman let her forehead rest in her palm for a brief moment before she looked back at the Roman twelve-year-old. There were a few long minutes of silent contemplation, during which Cecilia was afraid to turn away from Black Canary, despite the temping shouting and yelling in the background. Finally, Black Canary sighed, "We will train after the movie."

Cecilia smiled in thanks and quickly turned back around to face the screen, gasping as the captain battled the leader of the evil robots, EVE attempted to save everyone from being crushed by a large transportation-thingy, and WALL-E was being flattened by the thing they needed to put the plant in. Black Canary left, shaking her head at the scene.

* * *

A while later, Cecilia left the living room feeling overjoyed. WALL-E was alive! She smiled happily to herself as she entered the Mission Room, finding Black Canary already there. The circular arena was glowing, ending Cecilia's happy thoughts almost instantly. She didn't have to fight Black Canary, did she?

"Cecilia, welcome. Today, I want to see what you can do with your powers," Black Canary greeted her. Cecilia hesitantly stepped into the ring, wishing that she was allowed to use Latin. Five hours of English lessons were definitely not enough to help her communicate fluently. Luckily, the rest of the Team walked into the room at that moment. Cecilia looked M'gann in the eye and reluctantly tapped her own temple, soon feeling the mind link in her head, accompanied by a slightly guilty conscience because she was using Latin against Dr. Jones's instructions.

Nevertheless, Cecilia shot M'gann a grateful smile as Black Canary continued without missing a beat, " _I want you to make one of your crystals._ "

" _Oh,_ " Cecilia mumbled, suddenly wishing that the older teenagers _weren't_ there. It wasn't as if they were untrustworthy or judgmental, it was just that... she was still a bit ashamed of her abilities. They had brought ruin upon her family and taken her to a world that she didn't belong in. That wasn't the sort of thing that she wanted to be reminded of. She shook her head, _'Either move on or stay back, Cecilia, but you need to make a decision.'_

Taking a deep breath, Cecilia closed her eyes and held out her hand, palm open and upright. Once before, when she was about five or six, she had played around with her abilities when no one was looking. It had come so naturally, and even after all these years she could feel the... _energy_ gathering in her palm, creating a small stone of light and warmth. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that the stone was about the size of a coin and emitted a pure, bright, white light.

Cecilia snuck in a glance at her friends. All eyes were on her, although it must have been difficult to see such a small object. She couldn't tell what they were thinking, even with the mind link, she she focused again on her instructor. Black Canary smiled, " _Good. Can you make it any bigger?_ "

A frown formed on the twelve-year-old's face. She hadn't made any crystals larger than the one he now held, at least not on purpose. But she closed her eyes and tried to collect more of the energy. It was difficult to say the least. She could sense the energy all around her, filling the room in dancing streams, but to harness large sums of it required a great deal of concentration. The small amounts were easy, even effortless, but anything more? Not so much.

She was just beginning to collect more of the energy when someone snickered, followed by a familiar " _Ow!_ "

Concentration and confidence broken by Wally's apparent amusement, Cecilia opened her eyes again and bowed her head sadly, " _I am sorry, but I can not._ "

" _That's okay. We all have our starting places,_ " Black Canary assured her with a nod. " _Now can you make the crystal disappear?_ "

Now Cecilia was extremely perplexed. How was she supposed to do that? To make a crystal was easy, but to _un_ make it was entirely different. Still, she didn't want to disappoint anyone, so she closed her eyes for a third time and focused on the crystal in her palm, trying to feel its energy. She was surprised when she felt it. It was like the energy around her, but dense and controlled as if in a bottle. So maybe if she pried open the bottle...

A short yelp escaped the younger girl as she felt all of the energy violently escape from its container at once, shooting off in different directions like... like nothing she had ever seen. Startled, she opened her eyes in time to see a silent, brilliant flash of light, then darkness as the light faded and her eyes tried to adjust. Once her pupils were back to their normal size, Cecilia looked at her palm. The stone had successfully disappeared, giving everyone heart attacks as a farewell gift.

"That was... sudden," M'gann remarked, mind link broken. Connor had shielded her from the blast of light and now released her from his grip, his face reddening a little bit. If Cecilia's heart wasn't racing faster than a hunting lion, she might have laughed, especially when she saw Black Canary's startled face. Wally, surprisingly, appeared the calmest.

 _'Oops,'_ Cecilia thought, staring back at her empty hand. Well, at least she could disperse the crystals now. And it wasn't as if she had blown up half of Mount Justice, so...

"You will need to practice," Black Canary stated patiently once she had recovered. Cecilia bowed her head again and nodded solemnly, thinking that she had let everyone down. It wouldn't be that far of a stretch, based on their reactions. Out of her peripheral vision, she could see the others staring at her and imagined the looks on their faces. Surely not hate, but concern or pity or maybe fear? Perhaps just plain disappointment. She could _feel_ Connor's gaze on her back as she abruptly hurried out of the room, ignoring someone's call for her to wait. A blank emotion filled her, drowning out all other thoughts except one: failure.

She didn't head to her room. No, that would be too easy, too predictable. She was tired of being underground so long. Two thousand years, and she hadn't seen the sky in all that time. She wanted out.


	13. 13 Heart to Heart

It was a good while before anyone found Cecilia. Apparently, no one had known that she knew any of the exits. To be honest, she hadn't, but a couple educated guesses could go a long way. She was in a mountain, so the exits would likely be on the bottom levels. At the bottom level there was a pool of seawater that might have extended past the far wall, so she took the hallway that was farthest from the water. And just like that, with a couple of wrong turns, she was outside.

The first thing she had seen when the ground had lowered into a ramp was the forest, a source of many wild terrors in Rome. But this was not Rome, and after such a long time underground, she could hardly care less and even ran up to the nearest tree in glee, tentatively feeling its rough bark. Cecilia stared at the tree for a while, forgetting why she had come outside in the first place as she observed that the tree wasn't entirely foreign. It was, after all, just a tree: a brown, upright, growing object that sported leaves and flowers or fruit.

Then she looked up at the sun filtering through the leaves and the blue sky beyond, marveling at how puffy the white clouds were, just like in Rome. And she tasted the salty, wet air and listened to the birds squaking at each other and watched the waves of the nearby ocean gently lap at the sandy shore. She laid down in the cool, green grass and felt the sun warm her face, thinking that it might be warmer at Mount Justice than in Rome but not particularly caring. If she closed her eyes, she could _just_ imagine being in some costal city, her father humming a little tune as her mother snuggled up to him while Felix would sit beside Cecilia, making up stories about wars and love and noble quests.

But when she opened her eyes again, it wasn't her brother Felix sitting beside her, but Robin. Cecilia closed her eyes again and gave a low grunt, wanting to be left alone. Robin didn't take the hint and asked, " _You know that everyone is looking for you, right?_ "

" _You found me. The others will not be far behind._ "

" _Actually, they're mainly searching the third floor._ "

" _Then how did you find me?_ "

" _I hacked the_ security cameras."

Cecilia didn't have to look to see his smirk, and she didn't even bother asking what a security camera was. Instead, she tried to forget about his presence and bring back that which she had promised not to dwell on. But the slightly taller boy wouldn't leave her alone, " _What are you thinking about?_ "

 _'Great Lord Almighty, please make him go away,'_ Cecilia prayed. She peeked her eyes open a couple of seconds later. Robin was still there, looking at her expectantly. She sighed resignedly, " _Rome._ "

" _Ah. That would explain the_ turbed _look on your face._ "

Cecilia's eyebrows knitted in confusion and she gave him a wary glare, not having the faintest idea of what he had said. He noticed her look and frowned, " _You know,_ turbed. _Like... the opposite of disturbed. Sorry, I probably shouldn't be throwing words like that at you yet._ "

" _It is fine,_ " Cecilia forgave him, sitting upright again and staring at the ocean. " _I suppose_ M'gann _and_ Artemis _told you what had happened to me._ "

" _Yeah...,_ " Robin mumbled apologetically, rubbing the back of his neck. Cecilia let out a soft moan. So the team knew. Great. But she should have known after she had told her new "sisters" that the others would hear about it. Afraid that Robin might want to talk about it, she cleared her throat and changed the subject,

" _What is that thing covering your eyes? Another mask?_ "

" _No, these are_ sunglasses. _Civilians wear them._ "

" _Why?_ "

" _To protect their eyes from the sun. I wear them because_ Batman _told me to._ "

" _Oh,_ " Cecilia said, looking down at her feet. The good thing about pants was that she could sit cross-legged, the position she was in now, which was a whole lot more comfortable in her opinion than sticking her legs straight out. She stared at the grass under her, occasionally picking at it until she got up the nerve to ask, " _So_ Batman _does not trust us? Or does he simply not trust me?_ "

" _There are very few people he does trust, I think,_ " Robin replied with a small sigh, gazing off towards the horizon. Cecilia looked at him, head tilted to the side a bit in quiet thought. What did that sigh mean? Was it content or unhappy or simply a sigh? What was his story? What did his eyes look like? Was his real name even Robin?

Robin glanced at Cecilia, and she realized that she had been staring. Blushing, she apologized, " _Forgive me. But I was just thinking about how I do not know your past. Or anyone else's, for that matter. It is... disconcerting that you all know mine when I know so little._ "

For a few minutes, Robin said nothing, making Cecilia wonder if she had spoken out of place or offended him in some way. But then he gave her a lopsided grin, " _Consider yourself_ concerted _, because we're going to change that._ "

Without warning, Robin leapt to his feet and raced back into Mount Justice, leaving Cecilia to try and process what was happening. She quickly gave up and scrambled to her own feet, chasing after him. But he was, unsurprisingly, a whole lot faster than the twelve-year-old, and she soon could only follow the sound of his voice, "Rendezvous in the kitchen... Yes, I have her... She's fine... Black Canary, can you give us about ten minutes? ... No, Wally! That's not what... Ugh, just be there!"

"Robin, _wait!_ " Cecilia called, stumbling up a flight of stairs that she was sure he took. She was rewarded by him waiting at the top, smiling apologetically, before he resumed running at a slightly slower pace. Cecilia kept up with him this time, breathing hard at all the exercise. She distantly remembered a medical theory in Rome that a lot of exercise was bad for women. Clutching the stitch in her side when they finally entered the kitchen, she could see why. " _Why did we have to run?_ "

" _It was faster than walking. Plus,_ Black Canary _only gave us five minutes before she wants you back in the_ Mission Room _,_ " Robin replied, clearly not experiencing the same symptoms Cecilia was currently suffering from. He could have just walked five steps instead of run through a mountain. Cecilia grumbled a bit, but didn't say anything else as the rest of the Team quickly trickled in. She realized then that, although Robin had obviously been talking to the others while he was running, they clearly hadn't been anywhere near him. She made a mental note to ask someone about it later.

"So, now that we're all here... Where's Connor?" Robin asked once everyone else had gathered. Cecilia watched as the others each did a quick head-count before either shrugging to themselves or looking at their neighbors. M'gann seemed to be one of the only ones who knew anything, "He was trying to find Wolf so that he could track Cecilia. He'll be back soon."

"I'm already here," Connor announced as he entered the kitchen, arms crossed. M'gann smiled before Cecilia could ask who Wolf was, "Great!"

"So what is this meeting about, Robin?" Kaldur asked in his deep, methodical voice. The younger teen smirked excitedly, "Well, we all know what happened to Cecilia, so it's only fair that she knows our own pasts. Black Canary gave us five minutes."

"Seriously? Can't we just do this later?" Artemis half-glared, suddenly looking as if she didn't want to be there. Wally almost choked on the banana he was eating, "Did Batman approve of this?"

"Well... no. It was more of a spur-of-the-moment thing, and I'm not going to reveal my own past for obvious reasons, but I thought that it would be important for everyone else to..." Robin's voice trailed off uncertainly, and even through the slowly breaking language barrier, Cecilia thought that she understood enough to guess what was going on. And by the look on Wally's face, he wasn't all that surprised. In fact, Wally just rolled his eyes in that way that best friends do while Kaldur nodded thoughtfully, "It would help lay a good foundation for trust..."

"It's not like there's much to tell anyway," Connor muttered bitterly. M'gann put a hand on his arm, visibly removing some of his apparent bitterness, and Artemis sighed, "Yeah, fine. Whatever."

The tone in Artemis's voice threw Cecilia for a loop. She had thought that the three girls - M'gann, Artemis, and herself - had gotten along reasonably well. She had even thought that there was already some semblance of trust. At least, even if it might have been an act of desperation, Cecilia had painfully poured her own past out to them. She had been _crying_ in their arms. It was the whole reason they were currently standing in the kitchen. M'gann clearly had no qualms about sharing her story, but Artemis looked three wrong words away from outright refusing.

It... hurt. It hurt unlike anything Cecilia had emotionally felt before. Of course, she's been hurt worse, but this was simply a different kind of pain that she couldn't identify. And she didn't like it.

Artemis must have seen the pained expression on Cecilia's face, because her own demeanor softened and she quickly surprised everyone, "I'll go first. I'm Green Arrow's niece. Nothing special. Who's next?"

"Um, I can," M'gann offered tentatively, smiling. "I'm Martian Manhunter's niece. He was visiting Mars a few months ago, and I stowed away his ship. That's how I ended up on earth!"

It took a few seconds for Cecilia's politely pleasant, completely lost expression to sink in, and M'gann laughed, "Hello, Megan! I'll put the mind link up. _There. Is that better?_ "

Cecilia nodded, relieved that she didn't have to speak up and ask _again_. After a brief minute of repeating both girls' stories, the Roman became flustered, " _Wait,_ Wonder Woman _had mentioned other planets a few days ago, but she never told me that you were not from earth! Well, she never told me any of your pasts anyway, but... you are from... you are not..._ "

Suddenly, "Miss Martian" made a little more sense. M'gann nodded shyly, looking at the ground, " _Yeah... I'm from Mars..._ "

Kaldur spoke next, likely to subtly take everyone's attention away from M'gann and distract what Cecilia feared was Connor's growing resentment towards herself, " _I was born in Atlantis. When our city was under attack, my best friend,_ Garth _, and I defended our king, whom you may know as_ Aquaman. Aquaman _rewarded us with the choice of becoming his protégé._ Garth _decided to stay in Atlantis, while I accepted the offer._ "

Next was Wally, who spoke with borderline arrogance, " _I gave myself powers with my own_ chemistry _set. Blew up my bedroom and ended up in the_ hospital _, but once_ Uncle Barry _saw how awesome I was, he couldn't say no to having me as a_ sidekick _._ "

" _Yeah, right!_ " Robin laughed, punching his friend's arm. " _He probably only agreed because he felt bad about all those notes he left lying around, which is the whole reason you managed to become_ Kid Flash _in the first place._ "

The others chuckled at this while Wally opened his mouth to say something snarky in return, but Kaldur interjected, "Black Canary _will want to see Cecilia soon to continue her training._ Connor _?_ "

At first, Cecilia thought that he was going to refuse, which he could if he wanted to. It wasn't her place to pry, and it was his past. So when he hesitated, a deep frown engraved on his face, Cecilia picked up her courage and said quickly, " _You do not have to tell me. I will understand._ "

She internally winced at how nervous her voice had sounded. Suddenly, the kitchen countertops were quite interesting, and she decided to devote. How did people make them? What were they made of? How long could she stare at them without seeming odd?

Finally, there was a sigh, as if Connor had given in to the inevitable, and his answer, " _I'm the_ clone _of_ Superman."

Cecilia looked up, wondering what a clone was, but Connor was giving her an "I dare you to comment on it" look that she really, really didn't want to challenge. So, after a moment of hesitant stuttering, she just nodded, " _Okay. Um... Thank you, everyone, for sharing your stories with me._ "

" _Except for_ Rob _, 'cause_ Batman _forbid him,_ " Wally commented, earning a glare and almost another punch from the ebony-haired boy beside him. He dodged the blow and appeared on the other side of Cecilia, sticking his tongue out at Robin. Robin's expression was hidden by his sunglasses, but everyone knew that Wally was dead meat, and Artemis hit him upside the head anyway, " _Grow up,_ Wally _!_ "

" _Ow! Will you cut that out?!_ " Wally exclaimed. Kaldur stepped forward, _almost_ rolling his eyes, and announced, " _Our five minutes have expired. Cecilia, I suggest that you head to the_ Mission Room _. I have no doubt that_ Black Canary _will be waiting for you there._ "

Cecilia nodded, reluctant to leave and yet thankful to have something to keep herself busy. She thanked everyone again and left the kitchen quickly, deep in thought. Some of the older teenagers had shared their past to some extent, and yet a couple (Connor and Artemis) had barely said anything at all. Still, at least they had trusted her with a one or two word explanation, and Cecilia found herself grateful to know anything at all.

* * *

 **A/N- Yeah, I know. Stupid filler chapter. Sorry... I... don't have an excuse for this except that it seemed better in my head. But anyway, please leave a review, because I want to know how to improve this story and what you guys think. Thanks for reading this far!**

 **Thanks to _Nightcat_ and _Guest_ for reviewing!**

 **To _Nightcat_ : Yep! I'm just sorry that I took so long to update this time. I mean, all I'm doing right now is copying and pasting. Anyway, I shall forget about Billy, then. Yeah, it's kind of hard to remember that he's 10. The scriptwriters did a great job with his character!**

 **To _Guest_ : Interesting indeed, but I probably won't do anything with it. Thanks for the compliments, they mean more than you realize! And I understand your concern. At the moment, I agree: Robin is not right for 12 year old Cecilia. But she's going to grow up, change, mature. If I do everything correctly, their skills and personalities will balance each other perfectly, it's just going to take a (long) while to get there. Until then, one-sided relationship it is. I'm glad you're enjoying this anyway!**


	14. 14 Home Alone

**Mount Justice  
September 26, 13:09 EDT**

That Saturday had passed (Cecilia was extremely grateful to go to bed that night, because Black Canary had worked on "improving her physical condition"), and now it was Sunday morning. Cecilia's new routine hadn't changed: wake up, shower, eat breakfast, and learn English. After her English lesson, however, was another story.

She saw Batman in the Mission Room, staring at some holographic (as Dr. Jones described them) computer screens. This in and of itself struck the Roman girl as odd, for she hadn't seen Batman since her awakening three days previous. She had been expecting Black Canary to be sparring with the older teenagers, or maybe the room would be empty if they were finished, but the intimidating man in black was a surprising sight. Still, she felt compelled to greet him. After all, he was one of the four people present when she had woken up. And she had accused him of being a child-eating vampire... _'Oops...'_

"Hello, Batman," Cecilia greeted shyly, eager to impress the adult with her growing vocabulary. He merely grunted in response, a noise that might have either meant "hello" or "I'm busy". Regardless, it hadn't crossed her mind that he was possibly working, and it certainly hadn't occurred to her that he wouldn't want company until an uncomfortable silence began to stretch between them. It was unclear if Batman felt that awkwardness or not, but Cecilia began to distract herself with the hem of the knee-length, purple dress M'gann and Artemis had given her. Then she looked up at the holographic screen. It was displaying a map of some sort, with one blue dot inching towards a red dot. Batman must have been paying more attention to her than she thought, because he explained, " _The Team is on a mission. They will not be coming back for at least another fourteen hours, if everything goes well._ "

" _Does everything usually go well?_ "

" _No._ "

" _Oh,_ " Cecilia hummed softly, looking down at her sandaled feet. Then she raised her head back to the focused man in front of her, " _Am I bothering you?_ "

" _No, but I would suggest that you find another way to entertain yourself. You will not have training today._ "

Cecilia nodded, but otherwise kept still. There wasn't really anything that she _could_ do, aside from reading more of those books Dr. Jones had given her, which she really didn't find entertaining. After a while, Batman sighed, "Captain Marvel _will probably be back in about an hour._ Wolf _should be in the_ Living Room _._ "

" _Okay. Thank you,_ " Cecilia told him before hurrying away to the Living Room, thankful to escape from the lingering silence and wondering again who Wolf was. She hoped that he or she could speak Latin, otherwise communication would prove difficult, but what did it matter? She was bored, and Wolf provided an opportunity to, at the very least, have something to do.

But when she reached the Living Room, Cecilia stiffened in fright and froze in her tracks. There, lounging on the couch, was the biggest wolf she had ever seen. It was white and huge - perhaps even a tall as Connor or Kaldur. And its piercing, yellow eyes were staring right at her.

Any sane person would run in fear, but Cecilia was still in shock. The word "wolf" hadn't yet been translated to her, so she had been expecting a person. Now, of course, she realized that everyone had probably been referring to the beast in front of her, which was a realization that only served to confuse her more. Why was there a wolf in Mount Justice? How had she not noticed it before? How long had it been there? Was it domesticated? Was it dangerous? All of Cecilia's knowledge and instincts were screaming, _'It is a wolf. It is not domesticated and it will kill you!'_

The wolf stood up and hopped gracefully off of the couch, still eyeing her with its head tilted to the side. Cecilia slowly began to back away from it, her eyes never wavering from its own as she felt her way back down the hall. She could feel the crystals beginning to coat her arms and legs, and for once she wished that she could use her powers; perhaps then she could form a barrier between them. _'But should I really be frightened? Would the others bring in an animal that would hurt me?'_

The wolf, who was indeed taller than Cecilia, evidently reached a conclusion about her. Its head straightened and it began to pad forward confidently. Cecilia bolted towards the Mission Room, high on adrenaline and terror, _'It would not hurt to ask Batman!'_

Batman looked away from the holographic map as she sprinted towards him, not appearing surprised or frightened at all by her obvious distress. He merely gave her an inquisitive glance as she ducked behind him, panting. An explanation was not necessary, however, because a moment later Wolf jogged into view. Batman simply turned back to his work, stoic as ever, " _That is_ Wolf. _He will not harm you._ "

" _What is he? Why is he here?_ " Cecilia asked in a very small, slightly squeaky voice.

" _He is a genetically enhanced wolf with increased intelligence and physical attributes. The Team wanted to bring him along on their mission, but they didn't want to leave you alone, so they left him here. You may want to take him outside for some exercise,_ " Batman suggested in a way that seemed more like "this is the smart thing to do so you should do it". So Cecilia, after a moment of hesitant debating, shakily walked up to the taller-than-her white wolf. She glanced back at Batman, who was still focusing on the map most unhelpfully, before looking _up_ at Wolf. It gazed down at her curiously and lowered its head, sniffing her face. She squinted her eyes against the quick gusts of air and ignored its black, wet nose that occasionally brushed against her skin.

Finally, Wolf straightened up and departed from the room, leaving Cecilia to dumbly stare after him. Shaking her head, she remembered Batman's advice and forced her feet to follow the white beast. Wolf barely spared her a glance as he journeyed down to the bottom floor, at which point Cecilia wondered if it had also heard Batman's advice to go outside. But... if so, it would speak Latin, which didn't make sense. Perhaps it was just the tone in Batman's voice? Yes, that would make sense. Right?

No matter how the enhanced animal knew, Cecilia soon found herself facing the same forest she had visited yesterday. The air was a bit cooler, and the birds weren't as loud, but other than that it hadn't changed, and she relished the opportunity to let the wind dance across her skin and tug at her loose hair. Wolf also seemed to be enjoying himself, as he ran around the trees a couple of times before suddenly halting, pricking his ears up in interest. Cecilia watched in confusion as dropped into an expert crouch (which didn't actually reduce his size by that much, because he was still huge). Then it dawned on her: he was hunting.

Cecilia wasn't sure whether to stop him or let him be, so she simply watched in curious fascination as he quietly crept deeper into the forest, somehow managing to not disturb any of the undergrowth despite his massive size. Cecilia took one look at the entrance to Mount Justice, checking that it was still open, before tiptoeing after him. Even though she was about three-quarters of Wolf's height, she seemed to brush up against every single bush and shrub in her way, which would have made very noticeable noises had the wind not been blowing. She shot a playful, envious glare at the white mass in front of her. Seriously? How was Wolf so quiet?

After about half a minute of this, Wolf stopped. Cecilia froze in her tracks as well, although she was eager to know what he was hunting. She stood carefully on her toes, but Wolf's giant girth presented somewhat of a challenge. Cecilia frowned dramatically and lowered herself back down, giving up. Just as she did so, Wolf propelled himself forward with a powerful kick of his hind legs, flattening a rather fat squirrel that had undoubtably been searching for nuts a few seconds before.

Cecilia had never witnessed a hunt before - whether it be men that were hunting or beasts - so she wasn't prepared for the _death_. At first, she just felt a slight shock. Then she looked closer at the dead animal. Her stomach began to riot at the sight and, despite whatever horrible intrigue she might have otherwise felt, Cecilia had to turn away, moaning quietly. She could taste her breakfast in the back of her mouth and decidedly hurried back to Mount Justice, muttering to Wolf, " _Come back when you are finished. I will be waiting._ "

Thankfully, the ill feeling vanished the closer she got, and Cecilia could breath easily by the time she reached the entrance. Only, the entrance had closed. At first, Cecilia thought that she had simply come to the wrong part of the mountain, but the view was exactly the same, and Wolf's paw prints were unmistakable. _'This is not good.'_

So she did the only thing she could think of: pound on the rocks and ask calmly and politely to be let in. Eventually, a small... thing appeared out of the rocks, and a thin light scanned her body, almost causing her to panic. But it was over too fast to do anything, and that same woman's voice spoke up.

"Not recognized. Access denied."

Even without the entrance failing to open, Cecilia knew that that was a no. Unable to think of anything else except wait for someone to find her, she slouched against the rocks and silently pouted. _'Why me?'_


	15. 15 Again?

Cecilia felt Wolf's curious stare as she alternately paced, kicked a rock or two, and laid down in defeat. She wasn't sure how long they had both been locked out of Mount Justice. It had probably only been about ten minutes, but it felt like _hours_. Surely someone would have noticed her absence by now. Batman? Perhaps, but he was busy with that map. Dr. Jones? No, he probably left. Black Canary? She likely was somewhere else entirely, doing who-knows-what. The Team? Not for at least another fourteen hours...

So Cecilia had utterly given up. She supposed that she could try to find another entrance, but there was no guarantee that there was one, and it might take all day to find. She simply laid on the ground now, watching the lazy clouds drift by or the tranquil waves washing the nearby shore. It was actually quite peaceful. If she hadn't have been locked out, she might be enjoying the drowsy atmosphere. As it was, her muscles still ached from her workout the previous night, and her sleep had been interrupted twice - once by a short nightmare and again by an inability to stay asleep. So it was no surprise when her idle brain began to turn fuzzy, and as the sun warmed her skin she began to drift off, barely fighting her exhaustion...

GRRRRRRRRUFFFF! GRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Cecilia's focus snapped back into reality at the sound of Wolf's hostile growling. Her eyes honed in on the white beast, who was tensely standing, staring into the forest with his teeth bared. Heart pounding, Cecilia rolled onto her hands and knees, positioning Wolf between herself and the cause of his alarm. She looked between the wolf's massive legs, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was out of place. At first, she couldn't see anything, but then something moved behind a tree deep in the forest. Cecilia squinted her eyes, trying to make it out. It looked like... a human figure?

Now she was outright scared. She was trapped outside with a stranger. Granted, she had a giant wolf to protect her, but oversized animals can only do so much against a superpowered being. _'Especially one that can bend the earth...'_

Cecilia's heart stopped when the ground under her lurched. With a quick cry of fear, she curled into a protective ball and awaited the inevitable, eyes squeezed tight as the ground moved again. But instead of feeling the earth closing in around her, it simply began to slope, and after a few tense moments Captain Marvel's voice reached her ears, "Hey, Cecilia! Um... why are you on the- Wolf, what do you see?"

' _You're all right, Cecilia,'_ the twelve-year-old told herself, trembling. She hesitantly opened her eyes to find herself halfway down the entrance to Mount Justice. Captain Marvel was staring at the forest and petting Wolf, who continued to growl at the trees, although his animalistic threats were quieter than before. Cecilia took a deep breath and continued to calm herself, _'The strange, foreign man is not here. He is probably dead. You are imagining things. Wolf saw another squirrel. That is right. He saw a squirrel, and you thought that the squirrel was a person peeking around the tree. You are safe. Captain Marvel and Wolf will protect you.'_

Still shaking slightly and fighting back the tears of a child wanting comfort, Cecilia pushed herself onto her feet. Captain Marvel turned his attention to her almost immediately, and she was faintly surprised at how serious he sounded, "I don't see anyone, but I'm going to patrol the area with Wolf to be certain. Go inside and make sure that the door closes behind you. I'll be right back."

Cecilia nodded and steeled herself, doing what she was told quickly and calmly. However, once the entrance was sealed and no one was watching, she completely broke down. As in slumping against the wall, hugging her knees, and bawling her eyes out. That kind of breakdown. The breakdown someone might have when he or she is reminded of or forced to nearly relive a life-changing traumatic event, yet he or she refuses to let yet another person see his or her distress, even though he or she desperately needs someone to cry on. That sort of breakdown.

But by the time Captain Marvel returned with Wolf, Cecilia had quelled her tears and composed herself, appearing very calm aside from her bloodshot eyes. Neither of the beings entering the Cave were fooled, although Wolf couldn't comment on such matters. Captain Marvel, however, sat down beside her as the entrance sealed yet again. He was silent for a little bit, and Cecilia felt awkward at the silence, eventually breaking it with a quick, "I am well."

"You were crying," Captain Marvel stated, countering her words. She stood up and insisted without meeting his concerned gaze, "I am well. I just..."

Her voice trailed off as a sob threatened to escape. _'I just thought that I was going to die. I thought that he had come to kill me.'_

She found herself enveloped in Captain Marvel's arms, and a memory of Felix comforting her in a similar manner arose, unbidden, in her mind. She shook her head to suppress the emotions and the memories, to suppress everything until she was calm once more. The last thing she wanted to do was become a pity party. And yet there she was, whimpering and trembling like a kicked puppy.

For a while, no one said anything. Captain Marvel simply held her, she cried, and Wolf pushed his head into her side as a general encouragement. Despite herself, Cecilia smiled and rubbed Wolf's ears. Then she imagined what her father would say and attempted to laugh her breakdown off, piecing together a sentence in English, "I do not know why I am sad. I have a home... and friends... and I am well fed... and I am safe and I have clothes and-"

"Cecilia, you lost your family," Captain Marvel reminded her, bringing more unwanted tears into her eyes. "You lost everything just four days ago. You have a right to cry. I would be worried if you weren't."

Cecilia only hummed distantly, and after a while he released her and spoke again, smiling encouragingly, "I tell you what. I know where Wally keeps a stash of chocolate. How about we make sure that he doesn't eat too many, okay?"

A light, forced chuckle emanated from the Roman girl as she followed the large superhero, Wolf in tow. She sniffed and wiped her nose, thinking about how lucky she was to have woken up where she did.


	16. 16 Caught

**Mount Justice  
September 27, 07:02 EDT**

Needless to say, Wally was not happy when the Team arrived at seven o'clock the next morning to find his "secret" stash of chocolate raided and nearly empty. And to be honest, Cecilia did feel a bit guilty about it, even if it hadn't been her idea in the first place. But the guilt wasn't enough to keep her from hiding in fear as the speedster's shout echoed through the Cave, "CECILIA!"

Cecilia wasn't stupid enough to hide in her bedroom. Neither was she stupid enough to hide anywhere near the kitchen, living room, Mission Room, Med Bay, or any other easily accessible area, and that didn't leave her with very many options. And, unfortunately, she was eating breakfast in the kitchen when her effective death warrant had been loudly proclaimed. So when she looked around and saw the silver vent hanging above the stove, she didn't hesitate to abandon her half-eaten apple, remove the grate, and climb up it. It was extremely difficult, especially without any previous training, but she managed to haul herself into the horizontal vents above the ceiling just before Wally ran through, his feet drumming on the floor like soft thunder.

 _'Lord above, please tell Felix that I am thankful he hid my doll in that oak tree so many times,'_ Cecilia prayed, recalling some previously not-so-fond memories. As an afterthought, she added jokingly, _'Also, inform him that when I get to Heaven, I am going to kill him.'_

But Cecilia couldn't focus on her brother for long. Wally had stopped running and had undoubtedly found the grate to the vent above the stove. The twelve-year-old crouched on her hands and knees, timidly peeking over the edge of her perch. She could see the stove below and barely had time to duck back out of sight when she saw a red-gloved hand grip the bottom of the silver vent.. There were several tense moments of silence, and then, "Robin, I think that we have a pest infestation in the vents. Can you flush her out?"

"Already on it," a voice behind Cecilia replied, startling her. She barely had time to turn around and register that it was Robin before her hand slipped off of her perch and she tumbled down the vent with a short scream. The stove collided with her shoulder all too quickly, and for a moment Cecilia thought that she had been stepped on by an elephant. Shoulder, head, and hip bruising, she just laid there for a few seconds, moaning softly. _'That might not have been a great idea.'_

"Oops. Um... Are you okay?" Robin asked from somewhere above Cecilia. She opened her eyes long enough to give him a sarcastic look and groaned in response, gradually easing herself off of the stove. She winced as her bruised muscles protested, but otherwise she was fine. Until Wally, seeing that she wasn't seriously injured, crossed his arms and demanded, "Why did you eat my chocolate?"

"What chocolate?" Cecilia asked as innocently as she could, which wasn't that convincing. Sure, sometimes she could pull off a lie. Occasionally, she was even really good at it. But lying about hurting someone, whether it be in the form of stealing or information or violence? Not so much. Sure, she could have come clean and blamed the entire thing on Captain Marvel, but she wasn't one to rat out a friend on something as harmless as chocolate, especially if she was partly guilty as well. Wally raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Uh huh, sure. Then why were you in the vents?"

Cecilia couldn't pretend that she didn't know what he was talking about, because he pointed to the silver object in question just as Robin gracefully appeared on top of the stove. She decided to play innocent and looked him in the eye, steeling her nerves, "Training."

"I don't believe it. We already have one resident ninja, and that's him," Wally argued, pointing to Robin, who suddenly looked like he regretted exiting the ventilation systems. Cecilia capitalized on her lack of vocabulary and asked, "What is res... res-i-dent ninja?"

"Don't change the subject! You ate my chocolate!"

Robin sighed, "Wally, a lot of people steal your food."

"You are not helping!"

 _'Shoot. I can not believe that I hoped that would work,'_ Cecilia pouted inwardly. But she needed to find a way out. She couldn't run - that much was obvious - and she couldn't fight or hide. Well... she probably could fight. What was he going to do? He wouldn't actually hurt her, right?

And that idea sparked another, possibly stupid idea. Cecilia chose her limited English words carefully, putting on her most confident facade, "What are you going to do?"

Wally's eyes narrowed, "You have five seconds to run."

 _'Yeah, that was stupid,'_ Cecilia chided herself, all confidence shattered as she turned tail and sprinted away from the kitchen and through the halls, shouting, "ARTEMIS! M'GANN! HELP!"

Surprisingly, this reminded her of her dream last night. Except that the foreigner had been chasing her, not Wally. The thought made her run faster for a few seconds before she pushed the notion away, but she could almost hear the seconds ticking down...

Cecilia soon felt arms wrapping around her knees and shoulders, and then she was hugging Wally's neck as the hallways blurred together. Then they suddenly stopped to reveal the bottom level of the Cave, or more specifically the huge pool of seawater in the bottom level. And Wally was holding her over it, a scarily mischievous grin on his face.

Cecilia's first reaction was to cling to the older boy tightly and shout simply, "No! No!"

Of course, Cecilia wasn't afraid of the ocean. Any Roman who has gone to a public bath since he or she was young could hold their own in water, and sea monsters didn't exist. What she was afraid of was ruining her new clothes, gifts from her new "sisters". She didn't want to lose what they had so thoughtfully given her, and who knew what seawater would do to futuristic clothing?

"Oh? You don't want me to drop you in the water?"

"Wally! No!" she begged. How does one say " _I promise that I will not do it again_ " in English? Because Cecilia really wanted to know at that moment.

"Are you sure? Because I think that my hands are slipping," Wally teased. Cecilia felt his grip on her slacken, and she didn't have to know any English to know that she was doomed. Sure, Wally was probably (hopefully) over her eating his chocolate by now, so Cecilia was certain that he only wanted to irk her in retaliation. Whether that included actually dumping her into the water or not, she didn't know, and she wasn't going to take any chances. So she shouted at the top of her lungs, "HELP!"

But boys will be boys, and Wally wasn't exactly the most mature one or the wisest. So when Cecilia felt her back hit the cold, salty water, she wasn't exactly surprised, simply shocked. The water was freezing! Why was it _so cold_?! She was completely submerged, and instinct took over, causing her to flail and claw her way to the surface in a brief panic. The twelve-year-old Roman girl gasped as her head emerged from the chilly water and frantically wiped her soaked hair out of her face. Her legs reached down and brushed the rocky floor for a moment, surprising Ceciia, then she firmly planted her feet and stood up. The water only reached her shoulders, blessedly allowing her to wipe the water from the rest of her face.

"Wally! I can not-" Cecilia began, but her eyes opened to reveal that the redheaded speedster was gone. Instead, M'gann was flying into the room, Connor close behind her. Cecilia's attention turned to her clothes. They were soaked, obviously, but not falling apart as she had feared. Comforted slightly, she heaved herself out of the water just as M'gann reached her. The martian looked worried, her gentle hands and kind eyes checking her for injuries, "Cecilia, are you okay? What happened? Did you fall? Are you hurt?"

"I think that she needs a towel," Connor observed, probably noticing how much Cecilia was shivering. The water might have been cold, but so was air against wet skin, and her clothes were clinging to her body in a way that was not only uncomfortable but prevented her from warming up. M'gann lightly slapped her forehead, "Hello, Megan! I'll be right back."

Cecilia gave Connor a grateful look as M'gann flew off. The older boy looked like he wanted to help in some way, but he settled for simply raising a dark eyebrow at the twelve-year-old and asking, "Wally?"

She nodded, crossing her arms in an attempt to keep warm. Connor just sighed in slight exasperation. They both waited for M'gann to return, both imbedded in their own thoughts. And Cecilia's were centered on one speedster in particular...


	17. 17 Teamwork

By the time Cecilia had dried off and changed clothes, only Connor and M'gann (and Wolf) remained at Mount Justice with her, and as far as she knew they were asleep. Artemis and Aqualad, apparently, had left shortly after they had returned from the mission, and Wally had quickly fled after the whole dumping-her-in-the-ocean thing. Robin... well, she wasn't sure what happened to Robin, but he wasn't in the Cave.

This provided Cecilia an ample amount of time to complete her self-assigned mission: revenge on Wally West. Unfortunately, all the stunts her brother had pulled on her back in Rome were unhelpful because (1) she didn't have all of the required materials, (2) Wally never slept in the Cave, and (3) she still didn't know how Felix had pulled half of them off. And she couldn't ask M'gann and Connor for ideas. M'gann would probably disapprove of revenge, and she still wasn't certain if Connor particularly liked her. So that left Cecilia simply wandering the halls, awaiting inspiration.

Captain Marvel had given her (and Wolf) a designation the previous night so that she wouldn't be stuck outside again, so she was pretty certain that she could figure out how to rig that mysterious female voice to either call Wally a funny name or keep him out entirely. But calling him names was too simple and childish, and kicking him out of the Cave could prove both dangerous and punishable.

Or maybe she could push him into the ocean. No, definitely not. She was neither strong enough nor fast enough. Although maybe she could rig up some sort of trap... No, it would be easier to simply dump the water on him, which would be too direct and likely earn her another impromptu bath. Her revenge needed to be swift, secret, and effective.

The best idea for an idea came to her when she was wandering around the Docking Bay, looking at a red... thing about as large as a small ship. She should do something to his food! The perfect blend of irony and discretion. The thought of hollowing out an apple and sticking a beetle in it crossed her mind. She could imagine Wally freaking out, as she had long ago, when the apple would begin rolling around of its own accord. But there was always the chance of him biting into the apple, which could end several different ways - none of which would be in her favor.

 _'But that is really the only food-related joke I know how to do,'_ Cecilia despaired. She looked for other things that could potentially be useful, like the Wolf-sized metal ball sitting beside the large red thing. Surely she could do something with that, right? What was its purpose, anyway? What _was_ it?

Plotting turned into curious investigating as Cecilia tried to puzzle out what the giant sphere was. She cautiously approached it, trying to inspect the object at all angles. Then it moved.

Cecilia jumped back, barely keeping herself from screaming. All the same, she prepared to call for help as the metal ball rolled around to face her, its "face" being a small red circle on its surface with a few purple dots and red lines. It began beeping excitedly and rolling around, almost causing Cecilia to turn around and sprint away in precautionary fear. After all, it was a giant, metal, sentient sphere that probably weighed enough to crush her in seconds.

It eventually stopped beeping and became still, seeming to watch her expectantly. Cecilia stared back at it dumbly. What was she supposed to do? Was it hostile or friendly? She thought of how she had met Wolf the day before. He had turned out harmless - at least to humans. But she didn't even know what this thing was.

 _'Perhaps it is an automaton?'_ she thought, remembering stories of sentient machines created by the Roman god Vulcan. But Vulcan wasn't real, and neither were automatons, so... maybe she should just ask it? "Um... hello? What are you?"

The metal ball rolled around and beeped some more, appearing pleased. Whether it had introduced itself in the series of whirs and dings, Cecilia didn't know. All she could do was sigh sadly and ask, " _I do not suppose that you speak Latin, do you?"_

Another series of beeps was her answer. She raised an eyebrow at the sentient object skeptically, " _Can you at least understand me? Two beeps means yes and one beep means no?_ "

The sphere beeped twice. Cecilia smiled, " _Wonderful! I need help retaliating against_ Wally _. He threw me into the ocean for eating his food. I do not wish to be mean, but I want him to know that I can and will defend myself. I would really like to do something with food, but I can not think of anything. Do you have any ideas?_ "

The sphere again beeped twice and began to roll away. Cecilia's smile broadened and she raced after it, happy to have some help. The sphere was quick, but Cecilia kept up fairly well, and soon they were both in the kitchen. The sphere rolled up to one of the countertops, its red eye-like thing staring at the cabinet above it. Cecilia thought that that command was pretty obvious and obediently opened the cabinet to find it empty except for three books - one tall and green, one thick and dark blue, and the last average and tan-yellow. The Roman girl was confused for a moment, but the sphere clearly had something planned, so she reached for the green book and looked at the sphere for confirmation.

Beep!

 _'I guess not, then,'_ she thought, setting the book aside. She then grabbed the tan-yellow book and held it up.

Beep! Beep!

"Cook... Book," Cecilia read the title carefully upon receiving the sphere's approval. Shrugging to herself, she opened it and was immediately overwhelmed with various pictures of food and what were probably detailed instructions on how to prepare them. She took one good look at the various numbers and unfamiliar words and shook her head, " _I can not read this. I do not know_ English _numerals, and I do not understand these words. Can you read?_ "

Beep! Beep!

So Cecilia set the book on the floor, even though the sphere was at least as tall as herself, so that it could read better. The sphere stared at the page for a moment, then it spun in a quick circle before gazing back at Cecilia expectantly. The twelve-year-old wrinkled her brow in confusion. What on earth could it want? It did it again, pointedly turning to the book, then to her, then back to the book. It took about two whole minutes for Cecilia to figure out that it wanted her to turn the page. She laughed nervously, " _Right. How about three beeps means turn the page?_ "

Beep! Beep! Cecilia patiently waited for the sphere to reach the desired food, flipping pages when instructed. Finally, it came across whatever it was looking for and let out a series of whirring sounds. Relieved from the boredom she was sinking into, Cecilia grabbed the book and tried to pronounce the title, "Su... Soo-gar Cook-i-es?"

Beep! Beep!

" _Um... How is this going to help?_ "

The sphere emitted a very long string of noises that must have amounted to something along the lines of "you'll see". Cecilia frowned worriedly, " _I do not wish to hurt him. This will not cause either pain or physical damage, correct?_ "

Beep! Beep!

" _Okay. Point to where I need to go, then tell me if I am holding the right object,_ " Cecilia instructed. Another two beeps answered enthusiastically, and they set to work. In no time (two hours), the cookies were baking in the oven and Cecilia was cleaning up the huge mess they had created. Then she played hide-and-seek with the sphere until the cookies were done.

All-in-all, Cecilia was proud of herself. She hadn't _completely_ freaked out when meeting her new friend and partner-in-crime, and the cookies were only slightly burned even though it was her first time baking with futuristic technology. Smiling to herself, she left the cookies on a plate in the middle of the kitchen and scrawled "Sugar Cookies for Wally" on a piece of paper in her best handwriting. Then all they had to do was wait for Wally to return.

* * *

Wally was careful to avoid the Cave for a good few hours, partially because Robin had advised him to lay low until they figured out how the new girl handled being dumped in a pool of saltwater and partially because he needed to buy more chocolate. He had already more or less bought out the nearby grocery store and caught up on all of the sleep he had missed, and now he was simply waiting on confirmation from Robin that Cecilia wasn't angry - or, at the very least, wasn't vengeful.

 _'I mean, how could she be? No one can stay mad at the Wall-man,'_ Wally mentally boasted. _'Except for Artemis, maybe. And Connor. And Roy...'_

Sixteen seconds later, Wally's phone buzzed. He quickly glanced at the screen and read Robin's simple message, "All clear."

"Great! Time to see M'gann," Wally remarked happily, running to the nearest Zeta-tube. With a flash of light and the announcement of his arrival, Wally was in the Cave. In a blur, he sped down to the living room, where you were almost guaranteed to find someone at almost any given time. M'gann, Connor, Cecilia, Robin, and Sphere were all watching _Spongebob Squarepants_ on the television. This observation was quickly followed by the sight of cookies in the island in the kitchen.

"Ooh, cookies!" Wally exclaimed, assuming that M'gann had made them. In the blink of an eye, he was standing right beside them. There was a note on top that said, "Sugar Cookies for Wally."

"Good enough for me," he decided out loud, again assuming that M'gann had made a special batch for him and failing to realize that everyone was staring at him. With skill that would make the Cookie Monster jealous, he crammed four cookies into his mouth before grinding to a grim halt. Everyone watched as the expression on the speedster's face instantly morphed from pleasure to horror and then to disgust as he valiantly attempted to swallow the treat and preserve his dignity.

With a moan, he rushed to the trashcan and spit it all out. Then he chugged some milk to get rid of the taste and quickly reread the note, painfully aware of the laughter in the adjacent living room. Yes, it said sugar cookies. But they weren't sugary.

They were salty.

Wally glared at a certain Roman, aware that both Robin and Sphere were joining her in her poorly-concealed mirth. _'Salty. Just like her. Two can play at this game.'_


	18. 18 This is War

**Mount Justice  
October 1, 06:43 EDT**

The next three days were relatively copies of each other: wake up, shower, eat breakfast/avoid Wally's new prank, study English, set a trap for Wally/eat lunch, train with Black Canary, eat dinner/avoid another prank, hang out with the Team/prank Wally again, and go to sleep AFTER Wally (and Robin, just in case) left. By the end of those three days, Cecilia had eaten spicy brownies, woken up in a sleeping bag that was duct-taped to the wall (which is why she now locks her door at night), been drenched with seawater again, taken a shower with green water (all of the teens living in the Cave suffered that day), had her school books wrapped in saran wrap, and found her rag doll zip-tied to the handles of the highest cabinet in the kitchen.

In retaliation, Cecilia used her ever-growing knowledge of practical jokes and employed Artemis's help to dye Wally's suit a horrific shade of purple and pink, saran wrap a doorframe, zip-tie all of the kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator and every pair of scissors in the Cave (Artemis brought everyone some food, so no one was upset), sew a tiny device into his clothing that made a constant ticking noise (subsequently driving everyone insane), glue a quarter to the floor, and replace the filling in some Oreos with toothpaste. Yes, they were evil. Although, to be fair, most of them were Artemis's ideas.

But today was different. There was no prank when she woke up, showered, dressed, or waited for breakfast. There wasn't even any sign that Wally was in Mount Justice. To say that Cecilia was a little suspicious and worried was an understatement, and she was constantly glancing over her shoulder. Every nerve in her body was on edge. It had to be coming. _Something_ was going to happen. Wally wasn't just going to let the humiliation of eating toothpaste-filled Oreos slide by without some attempt to avenge his pride.

Cecilia barely noticed M'gann's sympathetic look as she jumped in response to the oven timer going off, signaling that the biscuits were done. She watched carefully as the martian girl levitated two biscuits each onto three plates before rationing out scrambled eggs and bacon. Taking one of the plates and thanking M'gann, Cecilia quickly scrutinized her food for any signs of tampering. Seeing none, she took one of the biscuits and nibbled on the end experimentally, just in case.

Connor gave her a funny look as he ate his own meal in silence. She largely ignored him, knowing what he was probably thinking. Pranking Wally was fun, but it was getting out of hand, at least in the "sense of security" department. She wasn't scared for her safety, really. The pranks weren't ever dangerous. But they were unpleasant, and the knowledge that they were coming freaked Cecilia out. She was constantly looking over her shoulder, double-checking her food, scrutinizing her surroundings...

M'gann's sharp look had her swiftly turning around, hands ready to defend any attack (not that it ever helped against a bucket of seawater). Sure enough, there was Wally, lounging on the couch. He had the TV remote in his hand, raising Cecilia's suspicions even more. The television itself was filled with static, but he kept pressing the buttons on the small device. What could he be doing?

"Um, Wally?" M'gann spoke up, earning the redhead's attention. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get the television to work. I need some cartoons. Seriously, what is this? Satellite? We need cable or something."

"Shouldn't you be heading to school?"

"Nah, it's Friday. I'll head down in a little bit."

Connor and M'gann shared an uneasy look, while Cecilia debated how long she could wait to start her own studies. It began in about ten minutes, which gave her plenty of time, but when was Wally planning on leaving? The seconds ticked away, but it was growing increasingly clear that he had no intentions of leaving soon. So, heart beating in nervousness, the Roman girl wolfed down the rest of her meal and calmly walked to the hallway, sprinting once she was out of eyesight.

She was learning the hard way that the wait was worse than the actual prank.

Out of breath, she reached the library - where her tutor had moved his lessons - without any incident. She even made sure that the door was opened nice and wide before warily stepping through, avoiding anything that could set something off. Nothing at all happened. Dr. Jones made a concerned face as her own paled considerably. Nothing was happening. Anything could happen now. _'Now I am officially terrified.'_

* * *

By the time her lessons were over, she was having to consciously keep her powers from manifesting themselves. The task was proving more and more difficult as time wore on, but Cecilia managed to make it past lunch and a whole three hours into training without creating any light crystals. She began to relax slightly. Wally hadn't set up a prank for her. She was safe, at least for the moment.

"Good. Now make sure to recoil your kick," Black Canary critiqued as Cecilia attempted to master a side-kick. The twelve-year-old did as she was told, now understanding why she was required to wear pants for training instead of dresses. She focused on delivering a firm kick to the training dummy Black Canary had dragged into the center of the Mission Room, careful to recoil and only slightly losing her balance. She was pleased with herself, and Black Canary was smiling, "You are improving remarkably. But-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Cecilia screamed at the sudden, deafening sound, her heart stopping as she wheeled around and squeezed her eyes shut, closing in on herself and bringing her forearms into an "x" shape in front of her face. It took a few moments for her ears to stop ringing, and then a few seconds more for her to register the all too familiar laughter permeating the air. Sweat dripped off of Cecilia's forehead as she shakily exhaled and composed herself fractionally. Her eyes opened and glared at Wally and a strange can in his hand.

"It's an air horn," Wally laughed smugly. "Completely harmless! You should have seen your face!"

"Not completely harmless," Black Canary scolded. "And you... Cecilia, your arms."

Thinking that they were somehow injured, Cecilia looked down at her lowered arms and found that they were still crossed, held in place by a thin layer of solid light. The light then moved on to form a two-dimensional circle on the far side of her forearms, creating an effective shield. She looked at Black Canary for a reaction, then to Wally, who had stopped laughing, and then back to her arms. How was she going to get her appendages free?

Cecilia didn't trust herself to disperse the light wile her arms were wrapped in it, even though it would be theoretically harmless. So, heat radiating from her face, she muttered, "Can someone please call Zatara?"

"He's already on his way. He's your den-mother for the week," Black Canary informed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Cecilia nodded in thanks, wondering what a den-mother was and when Zatara would arrive and what she should do in the meantime - and how to best get back at Wally. Her thoughts were interrupted by a robotic female voice, "Recognized: Aqualad. B, zero, two."

"Wait, why did I not hear your arrival announced?" Cecilia suddenly challenged Wally, her voice full of accusation. Wally's face showed brief panic as Black Canary's expression hardened fractionally with suspicion, but Kaldur unwittingly saved his skin, "Cecilia, what happened?"

"Training," both Wally and she lied simultaneously. Kaldur raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but let the matter slide as Robin Zeta-ed into the Mission Room, the female voice rightfully announcing his entrance. He noticed Cecilia's plight immediately, frowned, and then continued on as if nothing had happened, "Hey, does anyone want to spar later? Rough day."

Wally looked like he was about to volunteer, but Black Canary spoke first, "You are not doing anything, Wally, until Zatara frees Cecilia's arms. These pranks have gone on long enough. Both of you need to stop."

"Yes, ma'am," Cecilia and Wally both mumbled. A brief flicker of shame coursed its way through the twelve-year-old. She had disappointed Black Canary and acted immaturely for three straight days - four if one counted the day she baked the salty cookies and five counting the present day. All-in-all, she was not proud of herself.

"Recognized: Artemis. B, zero, seven."

Cecilia had never seen Wally clean up so fast. By the time Artemis had fully materialized from the Zeta-Tube, the "air horn" was long gone. But that didn't mean that the blonde archer wouldn't see Cecilia's unfortunate predicament. Her eyes widened for half a second, then they returned to their normal position and she crossed her arms tiredly at Wally, "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Wally lied.

"I was training!" Cecilia added. Both of them smiled in that innocent, convincing, I-am-clearly-lying way. Artemis rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Since the fact that you created a shield clearly means that nothing happened."

"I did not know that you could create shapes other than an oval or circle," Kaldur commented curiously. Cecilia looked down at the floor and shifted her wait uncomfortably under everyone's gaze. She hadn't known, either. And now she was stuck in her own creation. Again.

"Training is over. You are free to leave, Cecilia. I'll let you know when Zatara arrives," Black Canary announced, likely sensing Cecilia's discomfort. She shot the older woman a grateful glance before hurrying to her room to wait.


	19. 19 Battle

Cecilia awkwardly perched on her bed, the wide light-shield on her forearms making it difficult to sit correctly. The bottom of the shield rested on her crossed legs, holding the twelve-year-old's arms at an uncomfortably even height with her chest. She let out a long, slow, frustrated gust of air. She really needed to get her power under control and find out what she could and couldn't do. It was becoming an obvious necessity to understand her abilities, her limits, her strengths, and her weaknesses. She couldn't just keep accidentally entrapping herself like this. At best it was embarrassing, and at worst it was dangerous.

"Recognized: Zatara. One, one. Captain Marvel. One, five," the intercom announced. Cecilia perked up. Finally, he was here. She slid off of her bed and headed for the door, but stopped. Surely Black Canary would direct him to her. Plus, it was difficult to open and close her bedroom door without her hands...

So with another sigh, Cecilia settled back down on her bed. As predicted, there was a knock on her door no more then four minutes later. The Roman girl put on a smile, "Come in."

"I believe that my assistance was requested?" Zatara greeted as he entered. Cecilia's smile faltered wearily for a moment, and a bit of embarrassment flitted across her face, "Unfortunately..."

"You will get better," Zatara assured her as she held out her arms. He held his hands over the solidified light and uttered an incantation. The shield seemed to melt around her arms, as if suddenly liquified, and then fell to the floor with a solid thud. Cecilia let out a relieved breath of air, rolling her cramping wrists. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated on the shield, slowly and carefully dissipating the energy. Unlike the first time she had tried, the crystallized light simply faded from existence without nearly blinding anyone.

"I see that you have been practicing," Zatara remarked, sitting beside her on the bed. Cecilia nodded, eager to impress, "Yes, I have been working very hard. But my ability is still far from controlled, and it is a bit..."

"Unpredictable?"

Cecilia's mouth tightened in concentration, "I do not know that word yet. Does it mean uncertain? Random? Unstable, perhaps? Or wayward?"

Zatara chuckled, putting the twelve-year-old at ease. She glanced at him, noting how particularly _fatherly_ he looked. His appearance was remotely similar to her own father's and, even though they had different temperaments, she found herself thinking of Tiberius whenever he was around. Strangely, this didn't make her sad, but elicited the opposite feelings: contentment and security.

"Yes, 'unpredictable' means all of those things. But you will learn to harness your power in time."

"Do you promise?"

"Yes. Now, if you will excuse me, I am required in the Mission Room," Zatara excused himself, standing up. Cecilia nodded and watched him leave, silently wishing that he could stay. Hoping to attract his attention a bit longer, she called out suddenly, "Wait! Um... what language are you speaking? When you... you know..."

"When I preform my magic?" Zatara finished, only turning halfway back to her. "Simple. I speak English, but I say the words backwards."

And with that, he left her room, shutting the door softly behind him. Cecilia closed her eyes and let gravity pull her down, stretching across her bed with her arms splayed. She missed her father. She really, really did. How long had she been in Mount Justice? Eight days, maybe? That wasn't enough time to heal, and yet she no longer mourned for her family with great frequency. Why? Was that normal? Surely the shock would have worn off. But had she accepted her loss already? Was it acceptable to do that?

Guilt began to claw at her gut, forcing her to distract herself. Rolling off of her bed, she headed for the Mission Room for something - anything - to get her mind off of the past.

What she found was Kaldur in an intense sparring match with Robin. The training dummy had been removed, and the two teenagers were skillfully dodging and blocking each other's hits. Captain Marvel and Zatara were both standing to the side, watching them with expressions of impressed contentment. As Cecilia observed the fight, it was easy to tell why. Their skill and agility far transcended that of even a seasoned Centurion, and the twelve-year-old could feel an awed expression growing on her face with every block and backflip.

Then she noticed that Captain Marvel was eating a chocolate bar. Her attention turned away from the fight long enough for her mind to register how funny that was, considering her past four days. Biting back a laugh, she decided _not_ to warn him of Wally's wrath and focused again on the fight.

But the sparring match had ended, and after a brief moment where the two boys remained in defensive stances, they relaxed. Disappointment filled Cecilia for a moment, but she was soon distracted by M'gann, Connor, and Wolf, all three of whom entered the Mission Room via the tunnel on the opposite side of the room. None of them paid anyone any attention and simply walked along the rock wall.

Cecilia saw Robin whisper something to Kaldur, who responded inaudibly. She frowned, wondering what they could possibly be talking about. But her thoughts were completely interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind her.

The past three days had dramatically heightened the Roman girl's reflexes and awareness, and in a blur of fright she turned and dropped into a defensive position before remembering Black Canary's words. Wally and Artemis rounded the corner, and Cecilia was quick to try and cover her slip-up. Wally snickered and Artemis raised an eyebrow at her, communicating without words that she had failed.

 _'I am never going to get this right, am I?'_ Cecilia thought, having no idea what she meant by "it". But that hardly mattered. She followed Artemis and Wally to the center of the Mission Room, blushing when she realized that everyone had been watching. Thankfully, Wally chose that moment to open his mouth, "So if Zatara's our babysitter of the week, why's he still here? And why is he eating my snacks?!"

"Recognized: Batman. Zero, two," the familiar robotic female voice announced as Batman exited a Zeta-Tube, preventing Cecilia from asking for the definition of "babysitter". Because, if she broke the word down, it translated to "person who sits on babies," which she doubted was permitted.

"Computer, national news," Batman commanded. Immediately, a screen appeared, hovering in the air. On it was a woman with blonde hair holding a device to her mouth. There was a strange object, a sort of box suspended on wheels, and a building similar to those at the beginning of _WALL-E_ in the background. The woman looked determined and had a practiced tone, although Cecilia thought that she saw a small trace of unease as the woman informed, "The initial attack was short-lived, but Metropolis was only granted a short reprieve."

Cecilia gasped as the woman was replaced by an image of strange, towering, blocky structures being covered by thick vines. One building was completely obliterated into dust before Cecilia's very eyes. The screen then turned to the top of another building. This one was also becoming entangled by vines and had two human figures waving to Superman, who grabbed them just before that building was also desecrated. The woman continued, "And despite the intervention of Superman and the Justice League, there seems to be no end in sight."

The screen continued to sweep the area, and Cecilia watched a fully-armored woman who appeared to be half bird battle the vines. _'Is that a harpy?'_ There was a flash of green light that severed a vine, and the bird-woman was joined by a flying man dressed in green. They flew off to fight yet another towering vine, followed by a bird-man who appeared similar to the bird-woman.

"Should we get out there?" Robin asked quickly. Cecilia internally scowled at the many questions that were obviously not going to be answered. What did reprieve mean? What was that box on wheels? What were those buildings? What were those vines? Who was that woman? Who were those bird-people and the man in green?

"No," Batman answered, facing the group now clustered around the screen. "The League will soon have the situation under control; that's not why I'm here. According to your intel, Sportsmaster supplied Cadmus Blockbuster formula to Kobra."

"Who combined it with Bane's Venom to create Kobra-Venom," Wally reported, turning to Robin, who stated, "Which the Brain used to create his animal army,"

"And upgrade Wolf," Connor added, rubbing the gigantic canine's chin affectionately.

"The Brain also used inhibitor collars, like the ones at Belle Reve Penitentiary." M'gann finished. Cecilia's mind felt like it was going to explode. _'What just happened?'_

"Batman, is it possible those plant thingies are Kobra-Venom, too?" Artemis questioned.

"I had Green Lantern run a Spot analysis," Batman informed, briefly waving his hand in front of him at hip level. A keyboard appeared, on which he began to type something. "The vine's cellulose does contain trace amounts of a Kobra-Venom variant."

"These can not be coincidences. Unrelated criminals cooperating with one another worldwide," Kaldur commented. Robin pulled up a keyboard and began silently typing away himself while Cecilia sunk deeper and deeper into confusion. Regular conversations she could handle, but this? Everyone was spouting out words she hadn't known existed. All she understood was something about bad guys and those vines and snake poison, with Wolf thrown in there somewhere. She shook her head and edged closer to Artemis, the fear of not knowing beginning to wrap around her heart.

"Exactly," Batman agreed. "It's now clear our enemies have formed some kind of... secret society of super villains. The attack on Metropolis is only the beginning."

"You got that right," Robin exclaimed as he finished typing. "Plant creatures have sprouted in Gotham City, Paris, Star City, and Taipei."

As he listed off what Cecilia supposed were names, images of the vines in various locations popped up on the corners of the screen that had displayed the blonde woman earlier. No sooner had the pictures appeared than they were all replaced with static, startling not only Cecilia but, she suspected, Batman and Robin as well. Wally turned to the raven-haired boy, protesting, "Dude."

"It's not me! Someone's cutting the satellite signal. All satellite signals!" Robin replied, furiously typing away at his keyboard as everyone glared at him. Cecilia remembered Wally complaining about satellites earlier, when he allegedly was attempting to watch cartoons, and attempted to make herself useful, "Have you tried cable?"

The looks that followed answered her question quite clearly, and she was fairly certain that had the mood been lighter Wally would have laughed at her expense.  
 **3:20**  
Suddenly, a man with a white face, green hair, blood-red lips, and an abnormally wide smile appeared on the previously-static screens, seeming to stare straight at them all. Cecilia screamed and ducked behind the nearest person - Artemis. She refused to look at the screen, but she still heard everything. There were three tapping sounds, then a male voice, as soft as a whisper and yet as threatening as an earthquake, "Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem to bring you this important announcement... from the Injustice League."

The man laughed. It wasn't a joyful laugh, though there was certainly pleasure in it, but more of a laugh someone might make while watching others die in a colosseum. Another voice, clearer and more accented than the first, spoke up, "We are responsible for the attacks on your cities. If you wish to save them, a ransom of ten billion American dollars is required. Delivery instructions have been sent to the United Nations. There is no time limit, but the longer your governments wait..."

"The more we get to have our... jollies," the first voice laughed. The noise of static filled the air again, and Cecilia cautiously peeked her head around Artemis's shoulders. Sure enough, they were gone. Artemis gave her a comforting smile that didn't spread across the rest of her face. Everyone looked worried, except maybe Batman, who had his hand against his ear and replied to some unheard voice, "Roger that, Aquaman. The U.N. will prepare the ransom as a fallback, but it won't come to that."

Cecilia saw Robin begin to type more commands into his keyboard. Everyone was silent as the static made a brief whining noise before displaying a group of six people - no, five people and a huge white gorilla. Out of the people, there was one woman standing to the right, with green stripes decorating her sickly white skin and red hair. Next to her was a man that looked like Captain Marvel, except aged with a sallow complexion, no cape, and black where there should be a cheerful red. To his left and in front of the gorilla was the only person in the group who appeared somewhat normal, with healthy skin and white hair, high cheekbones, and rich green robes. Continuing to the left was a slack-jawed man with grey skin. Cecilia wondered if he had died and been left to rot, because his face was severely disfigured. And lastly, there was a tall man to the far left of the group who had pure-white skin, dark hair with two tufts sticking up like ears, a beard, a black cape, and a red outfit. He looked more like a vampire than Batman.

The corners of a red rectangle appeared around the face of each... being as Robin named them off, "Count Vertigo," the normal guy up front, "the Joker," no red corners appeared, so he must have been the laughing guy, "Poison Ivy," the striped woman, "Ultra-Humanite," the white gorilla, "Atomic Skull," the dead-looking guy, "Black Adam," Captain Marvel wannabe, "Wotan," vampire guy.

By now, Robin was practically screaming, "Seven heavy hitters! And probably behind everything and everyone we've faced."

"There's your secret society," Wally commented grimly. Artemis, with a bit of criticism in her voice, added, "Not so secret anymore."

"Perhaps after India, they realized that we would deduce the truth and saw no point in hiding any longer," Kaldur offered seriously. Cecilia tried to piece everything together, _'So, these are the criminals, and... they are controlling the plants... and they want something? What are "American dollars"?'_

"Yeah? That was their mistake," Wally proclaimed confidently, smacking one fist into the palm of his hand. "Right now, I say we go kick some plant creature butt!"

Adrenaline began to pump through Cecilia's veins. Her first mission! But just as her hopes and fears were rising, Batman had to crush them, "The Justice League will handle the plants. I have a different job for this team."

"Oh, man," Wally mumbled. Artemis punched his arm with an audible _thwack_. Cecilia snickered as Batman continued, "With the plants attacking so many locations simultaneously, there must be a central control system. Your mission is to destroy it."

"You realize what you are really asking them to do," Zatara not so much stated as asked, moving from his position behind the teenagers to confront Batman. Batman's reply was simple, "They're ready."

"Ready? Ready for what?" Wally voiced what Cecilia was wondering, earning another solid _thwack_ from Artemis. Now the twelve-year-old was thankful that she had kept her mouth shut. All the same, an amused smile wormed its way onto her face as Wally shouted, "Ow! Will you cut that-?!"

"Hello, Wally! If the big guns are fighting plants, who do you think we'll be fighting?" Artemis interrupted. Rubbing his probably bruised arm, Wally retorted, "I don't know, I guess we'll-"

He was silenced when the blonde archer pointed at the group still displayed on the screen. Cecilia watched Wally's anger morph into solemn understanding, "Oh."

 _'But are those not what Robin described "heavy-hitters"? How can we fight them? How can I fight them?'_ Cecilia wondered, a slight panic settling in her gut. She began to feel sweat forming on her forehead. Was she ready for this?She looked at Zatara, who turned his attention back to Batman, "Well, Batman, I trust you are correct."

"I trust you can locate the enemy," Batman returned. Fair enough. If Batman thought that they were all ready, Cecilia would be fine. Plus, she had the rest of the Team. They got this.

"Indeed. Wotan's involvement suggests that sorcery is part of how the plants are controlled. Robin, if you will provide the holo-map," Zatara requested. A few keystrokes later, a huge, blue sphere appeared in the center of the room. The sphere had areas where one could see through it and areas that were opaque. Cecilia tapped Artemis's shoulder, gaining her attention, and asked quietly, "What is that?"

Artemis seemed fairly shocked, but she responded all the same, "That's a globe of the earth. You know... the planet we live on?"

"Oh, right," Cecilia replied, remembering the view of earth on _WALL-E_. She concentrated on not showing her embarrassment and watched Zatara step up to the sphere. He informed everyone, "I'll search for signs of concentrated sorcerous activity."

"Etacol retnecipe fo yrecros!" Zatara shouted, holding his gloved hands to the holo-map. A red dot appeared on one of the opaque sections, which Cecilia could barely see because she was on the wrong side of the globe. Zatara sounded confident, "There. That is where you will find the Injustice League's central control system."

"Coordinates locked in. The Louisiana Bayou," Robin reported, finally looking up from his keyboard, which soon disappeared. Kaldur, his face focused and ready, acknowledged, "We are on our way."

The Team and Captain Marvel began to run towards the Docking Bay. Cecilia could hear her heart pounding in her ear, and her limbs tingled with excitement on what was to come. She could do this. She was ready to help the Team. She lived with them, trained with them, and now she would fight with them. Her mind raced with fantasized images of what could happen, and she knew that, no matter how internally terrified she was, this was what she wanted.

"Cecilia, Captain Marvel," Batman called, halting both of them in their tracks. The elated emotion that had been building inside of her paused as the others kept running. M'gann turned around just long enough to give her a sympathetic glance, and then the Team was out of sight.

The Roman girl was beyond confused. Why had Batman stopped her? Wasn't this - fighting criminals alongside the Team - what was expected of her? Was this not what she had been training for?

"For this plan to succeed, the entire Justice League must be seen fighting the plant creatures. You, Zatara, and I are needed elsewhere," Batman ordered Captain Marvel. Cecilia looked from one man to another, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do. Surely she wasn't going to fight those vine-things? Was she?

"Cecilia," Batman addressed, "you will stay here."

"What?! But-"

"A week of training is not enough to prepare you for these missions."

"But...," Cecilia tried and failed to find something to counter Batman's logic. Desperately, she cried, "Surely there is something I can do!"

"You can stay out of the way and train. Sphere will remain here with you, but you will be otherwise alone. I suggest that you make yourself comfortable," Batman replied coolly. He, Zatara, and a rather disappointed-looking Captain Marvel made their way to the Zeta-Tubes, leaving Cecilia spluttering like a fish. She tried to think of something - anything - that could change their minds, but they were gone in a few seconds.

"Recognized: Batman. Zero, two. Zatara. One, one. Captain Marvel. One, five."

And just like that, Cecilia was left alone. Alone and devastated.

* * *

 **A/N - Hello! So, another round of chapters have come, and that means that I get to respond to all the guest reviews I've received. Thanks to _Nightcat_ for reviewing! (If I missed someone's review, I'm sorry. It didn't show up on my computer.)**

 **To _Nightcat_ : Yay, more ideas! And of course I'm doing the second season, and the third when it comes out. :) Now that _is_ an idea... You're really wanting Cecilia/Billy to become a thing, aren't you? XD I'll take that into consideration, and I doubt that telling me name-ideas in the reviews is going to spoil anything, so tell. me. everything. :D**


	20. 20 Left Behind

Cecilia stood in the middle of the Mission Room for several minutes, in shock about what had happened. They had left her. Simply up and gone. A flash of light, the announcement of their departure, and boom. She was alone and helpless. Again.

 _'I suppose that I should have seen this coming,'_ Cecilia thought, looking at the screen still displaying the Injustice League. _'After all, I am not ready. I was foolish to think that they would allow me to help. Batman is right: I must train harder. Eventually, I can and will help, but not now.'_

 _'Besides, this is not so bad. I have the whole Cave to myself, and Sphere for company. Then again, Sphere is my only company. I am alone. What if something happens? What if someone tries to break in? What if that figure in the forest a few days ago was that foreigner and he is looking for me?! I am in a mountain! I am literally underground! Oh, this is bad, so very, very bad!'_

 _'Woah, okay, calm down. That man is dead, and Sphere is probably more than capable of defending me. Of course, I can barely communicate with Sphere, but... um... maybe we could watch a movie or something to get my mind off of everything. Surely Sphere would know how to operate the television, right?'_

" _Ah, who am I fooling?_ " Cecilia muttered, reverting back to Latin. Jaw set, she looked around the Mission Room for something to do. She could train, but she didn't know where they kept the training dummy, and practicing by herself would make her feel self-conscious. She didn't know where Sphere was, and she was forbidden from playing anymore pranks. The only other thing she could think of was figuring out how the computer worked. At least that would be semi-productive.

"Um... Computer, may you please show me the plant creatures?"

The screen with the Injustice League temporarily flickered into static, and for a moment Cecilia thought that she had broken it. But then it displayed various scenes of the vines being attacked by both familiar and non-familiar figures. The blonde woman who had been reporting earlier was speaking again, "...the reveal of the Injustice League. As you can see, the entire Justice League is fighting to rid Paris, Gotham City, Taipei, Metropolis, and Star City of these plants while the United Nations collects the much needed ransom. We have confirmation of..."

Cecilia stopped paying attention to the woman and focused on the actual battles. She spotted Superman, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, Zatara, and Black Canary all in various locations and fighting different plant creatures. She also spotted a few people who reminded her of various members on the Team, such as a green man who could fly like M'gann and a guy in a red suit who could run super fast and a guy in green who shot arrows. She anxiously watched the battle for perhaps two or three hours, hoping that the fight might end quickly and everyone would be safe. But the longer she watched, the worse things got, and as each hero seemed to be taking hit after hit and innocent citizens were almost killed, Cecilia found herself huddled on the floor with her eyes closed, holding her hands over her ears to block out the screams in the background.

The blonde woman kept on talking, "... and it looks as if Batman is-"

"NO! Stop! Turn it off! Please!" Cecilia cried. The computer obediently shut down the screens, and after taking a moment to gather herself, Cecilia shakily pushed herself off of the ground and wiped her cheeks dry. _'They will be fine. They are professionals. They can handle themselves... Right?'_

Sphere rolled in at that moment, beeping inquisitively. Cecilia smiled and sniffed determinedly, pulling on a calm facade, "I am fine. Where were you? Do you want to watch a movie?"

Beep! Beep!

Sphere rolled forward eagerly. Cecilia let out a small, endearing laugh and requested, "Computer, can we watch a movie?"

The giant, suspended screen reappeared, but it was blank. The robotic female voice Cecilia was growing so accustomed to politely asked, "What would you like to watch?"

Cecilia and Sphere exchanged quick, questioning glances, but since the Roman girl could only understand "yes" and "no" and "turn the page", no immediate decision was reached. The twelve-year-old tried to think of a movie other than _WALL-E_ , but that was the only film she had seen thus far. So with a shrug of her shoulders, she answered with a question, "What would you recommend?"

An image popped up on the screen, and Cecilia felt her mind blank momentarily. The picture was mainly dark, but there was a creature in the center that sent a shiver through her spine. It had a long head and no visible eyes or ears, but there were very sharp teeth clearly meant for killing, and saliva drooled out of its maw. Its body shape was vague and obscured by shadow, but Cecilia knew that it had to be a hunter. The title spelled "Alien".

Sphere was frantically beeping "no" and rolling around in agitation. Cecilia couldn't agree more. "No thank you! Please pick another one! Any other one!"

The creature disappeared and was replaced by a murderous man who looked similar to the Joker and had unnatural, pointed teeth. Cecilia yelped while Sphere quickly rolled away. The twelve-year-old's eyes widened, and she didn't even bother to read the title as she shouted, "No, don't leave me here! Computer, not this one!"

The creepy pedophile-man was interchanged with a scene of various characters holding or shooting beams of light in front of a very decorated background that Cecilia wasn't paying much attention to. She held her hand over her heart to make sure that it was still beating, and then demanded, "Who watches those?!"

"Kid Flash and Robin," the computer answered helpfully. Cecilia only shook her head dramatically. Of course. Why did she even bother asking? Sphere gave a few beeps in what she assumed was a "Who else?" and rolled back, coming to a rest beside the Roman girl. Cecilia felt a mischievous smirk light up her face, "You were scared, weren't you?"

Sphere quivered protestingly and made a few noises in denial, but Cecilia's smile only grew, "You completely were! You rolled away like a startled pigeon!"

Indignantly, Sphere made a few more beeping sounds that might have been an "And you weren't?" Cecilia only shrugged and turned back to the screen. This next movie, at least, didn't appear as terrifying. Tilting her head to the side, she read, "Star Wars... A New Hope. Huh. What about this one?"

Beep! Beep!

"I guess it is settled. Computer, please play the- no, wait, I need some popcorn," Cecilia corrected herself. _'But do I really want to walk all the way to the kitchen to grab some popcorn? Do I even know how to use the microwave? Ugh, now I know why the living room is next to where we cook food.'_

"Never mind. Computer, please play the movie," Cecilia continued as if nothing had happened. The lights dimmed and the movie started up, opening with a scene of some vessel flying over an orange planet. Bolts of red and green light filled the air as another, much larger, triangularly-shaped vessel pursued the smaller one. Immediately, Cecilia's attention was completely raptured, and she quickly tuned out her surroundings in favor of answering two simple questions: what's going on and what happens next?

The larger vessel struck the smaller vessel, and something exploded. The scene changed to three automatons regaining their balance in a white corridor. Two looked like metal humans, except one was silver and the other was gold, while the third was a white cylinder with a blue, half-sphere head and three white legs, each of which must have wheels on the bottom because it wasn't walking like the others. A siren was wailing an alert, and several men with funny hats and weapons ran around the corner in a very loose formation. _'A Centurion in Rome would never allow such an undisciplined brigade. Those soldiers must not know what they are doing.'_

"Did you hear that?" the golden automaton asked the cylindrical white one, who emitted some untranslatable beeps and whistles in response. Cecilia glanced at Sphere, who had gone still with shock, and then turned her attention back to the movie as the golden automaton continued, "They shut down the main reactor! We'll be destroyed for sure! This is madness."

Again, the little automaton beeped, presumably in agreement. Or at least, that's what Cecilia thought until Sphere rolled forward angrily, emitting its own set of beeps in retaliation. The twelve-year-old frowned, but supposed that Sphere must have simply figured something out that she hadn't. Focusing back on the screen, she watched as the men in funny hats all took cover in various doorways, aiming directly at a closed door at the end of the corridor. Obviously, something bad was coming. The golden automaton mourned, "We're doomed."

The little automation whistled and beeped some more, causing Sphere to positively bristle. Well, if a metal ball could bristle, that is. The golden one shook his head, "There will be no escape for the princess this time."

Another few whistles. Now Sphere was going berserk. Cecilia leapt to her feet as Sphere almost charged the screen. The little, sentient metal ball was livid! Cecilia leapt in front of it, hands held out, "Woah, Sphere! What is wrong?"

Beep! Bee-beep! Bleep bing bleep, beep bleep!

"I can not understand you when you talk like that. Was that automaton saying something bad?"

Beep! Beep!

This caused Cecilia to stop and think. Surely the little guy wasn't spouting off bad words, right? "Were they really bad words?"

Beep! Beep!

"Computer, turn off the movie, please," Cecilia requested, sitting back down. Sphere seemed to relax slightly as the screen again faded, and Cecilia let out a heavy sigh, "Okay... So we will not be watching any movies. What else can we do...? I do not suppose that we can play 'tag' or anything..."

"Recognized: Batman. Zero, two. Aquaman. Zero, six. Flash. Zero, four. Captain Marvel. One, five. Green Arrow. Zero, eight. Martian Manhunter. Zero, seven. Zatara. One, one."

"Wait, what?" Cecilia gasped as the lights brightened, welcoming the plethora of people suddenly materializing out of the Zeta-Tubes. But her shock was cut short at the sight of everyone safe and sound, if a little worn out. She sprang to her feet, restraining herself from doing more than cry happily, "You are all right!"

"Of course," Captain Marvel assured her, while the super-fast man that was on the screen earlier chuckled amiably, "Was there ever any doubt?"

Cecilia then realized that the Team wasn't with the adults. She frowned and looked around, wondering if she had simply missed them. A muscular, blonde man with an orange shirt that seemed to be made of scales laughed quietly and answered her unspoken question, "The Team will arrive shortly. They have elected to return in the Bioship."

"Right," the twelve-year-old nodded. Batman began to converse with the other superheroes, presumably about something important. Cecilia tried not to listen, but she couldn't help but look at them and wonder, _'What is a Bioship? And how short is "shortly"? And who are these new adults? ... And now I am staring; um, what an interesting wall. I wonder if anyone has ever noticed how... much like a wall that wall is... Yeah, this is not working.'_

"Cecilia, why don't you go to bed," Zatara suggested, snapping the Roman girl from her thoughts. She looked away from the wall to find all eyes on herself, making her skin crawl slightly. She hesitated, but the green-clad archer from earlier smiled at her, "Don't worry, we'll make sure the Team makes it back safely. You look like you need a rest."

Sphere rolled up to Cecilia and nudged her in the direction of her room, beeping in what must be agreement. She gigled and patted Sphere affectionately before heading off for a hopefully nightmare-free night's sleep.


	21. 21 Discussion

**Mount Justice  
October 1, 20:27 EDT**

The other Justice League members quickly resumed their own little conversations, some engaging in small-talk while other delved into more serious matters. Batman waited until he was sure that Cecilia had left before turning back to his discussion with Martian Manhunter and Aquaman, "She needs a mentor."

They both nodded in agreement, but no one offered any suggestions for quite a while, all of them content to consider the problem on a deeper level. Aquaman was the first to speak, "Wonder Woman shares a similar background. Perhaps she should be considered?"

"Perhaps. Wonder Woman would be a wise choice," Batman admitted, his expression blank as he played with the idea.

"From what M'gann has told me, Zatara has proven most helpful with Cecilia," Martian Manhunter added. Batman kept his face carefully devoid of emotion as he pointed out, "Zatara already has Zatanna to look after."

"And Zatara would like to know what this conversation is about," Zatara cut in, stepping away from his conversation with Green Arrow, who also turned his attention to them. Aquaman inclined his head in respect, "Our apologies, Giovanni, but we were just discussing who Cecilia's mentor should be."

"Ah," Zatara nodded, looking thoughtful. "If it is necessary, I would be glad to take on another protégé."

"Dinah doesn't have a sidekick. I'm sure that she'd be happy to mentor Cecilia," Green Arrow commented, smiling. Batman stayed silent as ideas were quickly bounced back and forth between the Leaguers. Then Flash and Captain Marvel, finally realizing that they were missing out on an important topic, jumped in, with Flash inquiring, "Has anyone even asked if she wants to be a heroine? I mean, what if she'd rather be a regular citizen? Maybe a doctor or an engineer or something?"

"No, you didn't see her earlier," Captain Marvel argued. "She wanted to go with the Team. Like, she really wanted to. Really."

"Well, in that case, we can always ask one of the Lanterns," Flash pointed out. "She can make solid-light constructs like they can, so it would only make sense. And Captain Atom is always an option."

Captain Marvel, a hopeful smile on his face, volunteered, "And I don't have a sidekick. We get along really well."

Martian Manhunter was quick to remind everyone, "We are looking for someone who can teach Cecilia to use her powers, inspire and connect with her, and help her navigate the world around her. Several of the heroes we have named lack the necessary qualities to fulfill that role."

This launched even the Flash and Green Arrow into deep thoughts. Batman, however, had heard enough to start narrowing down the list of possible candidates. Within a few minutes, he had sorted out a list of which Justice League members would be best suited for the young Roman girl. Satisfied with his mental list, Batman now only needed to see if the person he picked even wanted a sidekick.

But Batman was fairly confident that the answer would be a yes. And he was usually right.


	22. 22 What to do

**Mount Justice  
October 2, 05:34 EDT**

Cecilia awoke the next morning sweating like a pig, her heart racing and her bedsheets in a tangled wad. It took a few moments for her to realize where she was, and then a few more moments of deep breathing to calm herself down. _'I am alive and well. I am safe. Stop panicking.'_

But as much as she wanted to, she couldn't shake her growing feeling of unease. She shook her head, as if the act would help to dissipate the emotion. But that annoying notion of insecurity clung stubbornly to her mind. She shook her head and sighed heavily. Maybe she should tell someone about her nightmares.

 _'No. They think that I am weak enough already. The must not know that I am plagued by bad dreams as well, or they shall never believe me fit for fighting,'_ Cecilia argued with herself, picking up her rag doll from where it had fallen to the ground during the night. She stared at it helplessly, allowing its familiar shape and feel to comfort her. _'Besides, it is not like I have one every night. I will be fine. They will cease eventually.'_

She looked at her digital alarm clock and noticed that she still had about half an hour before it went off. Oh well. Setting her doll down on her bed, she quickly pushed her hopeless thoughts to the back of her mind and got ready for the day. It was Saturday, which meant that the entire Team would likely be hanging out at the Cave. She was anxious to see if they were safe and sound, although she had no cause to worry. They had only been fighting the masterminds behind the giant vines that had given even the adults a hard… _'Fine, I have a cause to worry.'_

Cecilia found M'gann and Connor in the kitchen, lips locked together and in a very passionate embrace. Cecilia's eyes widened with horror, and she instantly shut and shielded her eyes, shouting, "Are you married?!"

A long, shocked silence greeted her startled question. Then the two lovers seemed to snap out of it, hurriedly giving excuses and explanations that jumbled together in a rather large mess of words. Cecilia kept her hands over her eyes and awkwardly stood still, waiting for a discernible answer and unsure if she really wanted one. Finally, Connor allowed M'gann to explain, "It's called dating! It's not like marriage at all! You're just… it's like pre-marriage."

Cecilia's felt some of the blood leave her face at that explanation, "Does that mean that… you know… you-"

"Nonononono! No, that's not-! Ugh," M'gann and Connor insisted, panicking. Cecilia cautiously peeked out from behind her hands and found that both of the older teens looked just as awkward as she felt. They exchanged a disheartened look before M'gann carefully guided Cecilia to the couch. Once they were uncomfortably situated, the martian girl began to explain, "You see, when two people love each other-"

"My mother already gave me this talk," Cecilia announced, wishing fervently that she had just waited for her alarm to go off. Both girls' cheeks were turning red as M'gann again insisted, "No, this isn't like that! Um… how did marriage work in Rome?"

"Well," Cecilia began, unsure of where this was leading, "your parents would arrange your marriage, especially if you were part of the upper classes. Some girls younger than I have been married, but thankfully not many men want a musician's daughter."

M'gann nodded thoughtfully and continued with her explanation of dating, "These days, we don't arrange marriages. People date instead, either to find out if they are right for each other or simply because they are in love."

"Oh, okay," Cecilia replied, satisfied with the explanation and yet wondering if there was more to it. But fearing that they would all be engulfed in another awkward quiet - or that the conversation would take a turn for the worst - she straightened up and asked a little too loudly, "So what's for breakfast?"

"Yeah, I'm starving!" Wally's voice announced from the hallway. Everyone turned to see the speedster waltz in, his right arm wrapped in a thick, white material and supported by a sling. Concern for the annoying teen took over Cecilia, and she struggled to keep her voice calm, "Um, what happened to your arm?"

Wally's smile grew an imperceivable amount before he launched into an overly-dramatic tale, complete with sound effects and demonstrations, "They had us surrounded. We were being hit from all sides. The situation seemed hopeless, but I didn't give up. I ran at Count Vertigo as fast as I could and socked him in the jaw! Smack! Knocked him out cold. Kid Flash saves the day."

Cecilia watched, fascinated, as he reenacted the scene with his good arm, punching an imaginary foe to the ground. M'gann gave her a playful, "don't believe that for a second" look before she headed for the kitchen. Connor crossed his arms and smirked, "Then how did you break your arm?"

"Oh… he had a jaw of steel," Wally answered with a proud, gloating grin.

"I think that that's the closest to the truth you've ever been," Connor teased. Wally crossed his arms - well, arm - and huffed mockingly, "She doesn't need to know that."

"I guess that she also doesn't need to know that you actually broke it when Black Adam punched you into a tree," Artemis commented, coming up behind Wally. He jumped, but quickly recovered, "You have to admit that punching the bad guy has a certain heroic appeal."

Artemis just rolled her eyes and changed the subject, "So, what do you guys want to do today?"

Cecilia looked to everybody else to come up with an activity, since she still didn't know enough about the modern world to make a decision. M'gann shrugged, "I have to practice my new cheerleading routine, and Cecilia has her English lessons, but after that we should all be free to do anything."

Robin and Aqualad both walked in at that moment, and Robin suggested, "How about a card game?"

"Mau?" Wally questioned, an evil smirk on his face. Robin nodded, "Mau."

The three boys shared knowing looks that legitimately scared Cecilia. She looked at the other three teenagers for some clue as to what was going on, but they seemed just as confused as she was. Connor, either the bravest or most foolish of them, asked, "What's Mau?"

"And what is a card game? And cheerleading?" Cecilia added curiously.

"You'll find out," all three boys answered vaguely. And with that, they departed the kitchen, presumably to discuss the upcoming game, and left everyone else fairly concerned for their own safety.


	23. 23 A Game of Cards

Cecilia left her English lessons with an ill feeling of trepidation. It was time to play whatever mysterious card game Robin had suggested. Briefly, she considered skipping out entirely, but she really didn't want them to think that she was scared to play a simple game. Besides, it couldn't be anything bad, otherwise Kaldur wouldn't have agreed to participate. But that knowing look they had shared…

Against her better judgement, Cecilia entered the living room and found everyone else already seated on the green couch, clustered around the little glass table in the center of the seating area. On the table was a neat stack of small, decorated papers, which Cecilia assumed were called cards. Robin greeted her as she sat down between M'gann and Artemis, "Good, we're all here."

"Great, now how do we play?" Artemis asked in a slightly irritated tone as Robin began passing out the cards. Wally smirked, "That's the point. You're supposed to figure it out."

Artemis raised a condescending eyebrow at the redhead and gestured to Cecilia, M'gann, and Connor, "That might work well for you, but I'm pretty sure that none of them have ever played a card game in their life."

"We can learn," Connor protested defensively. Wally shot Artemis a triumphant smile, Artemis smacked his head, and then the game began. Robin finished passing out the cards (Cecilia noticed that each person had five) and announced, "We will be playing five-card, nontraditional Mau. I will be your server. We will start with Kaldur and move clockwise. Mau is now in session."

Robin turned over the top card of the stack and played it on the glass table. It was white, with four red hearts in the center and a red "4" on opposite corners. Kaldur placed a card of his own, one with seven red hearts, on top of it and said, "Have a nice day."

"Um… thanks?" M'gann responded. Immediately, Robin took a card from the center stack and handed it to her, "Penalty: talking."

"But Kaldur was talking!" Artemis exclaimed indignantly. Wally passed her a card from the stack, "Penalty: talking!"

 _'So no talking,'_ Cecilia noted as Robin silently laid down a card with three hearts. Wally was next, setting down a card with red hearts and two women inside. Artemis placed down a card with black arrow-like things and two similar women inside. Cecilia was about to move when Wally gave the blonde archer a card, "Penalty: failure to call card."

"What?! But that's-"

"Penalty: talking."

Artemis was glaring daggers at Wally now, and Cecilia vainly hid her laughter behind her cards. She had five differently-decorated cards: five black clovers, seven black clovers, ten black arrow-things, a single heart with an "A", and six hearts. Now she was in trouble. Which did she play? Did it even matter? She stared at the card Artemis had set down, trying to figure out why it was chosen. Was it because of the color? Or maybe the shapes? Or was it the number of shapes?

"Penalty: failure to play within five seconds," Robin proclaimed, handing her a card. She gave him a frustrated look and accepted the card, which had nine red diamonds. It was M'gann's turn now, and Cecilia could see that she was more than a bit flustered. But she heeded Cecilia's penalty and was quick to set down a card with two black clovers. Kaldur handed it back to her, along with two extra cards, "Penalty: wrong suit and failure to hee-yah."

All four newcomers to the game looked at Kaldur like he had lost his mind. Cecilia almost laughed. Whatever noise he had made sounded like a donkey! M'gann looked torn between amusement and bemusement, but she accepted her penalty cards without complaint. As Connor laid down his card - red diamonds and two women - Cecilia heard the martian's voice in her head, _"Link established. Is everyone here?"_

 _"Yeah."_ Connor.

 _"I'm on."_ Artemis.

No other voices answered M'gann's question, so Kaldur, Robin, and Wally must have been excluded. Cecilia frowned, but carefully pretended that nothing was going on as she questioned skeptically, _"Is this allowed? They said no talking."_

 _"But they didn't forbid telepathy,"_ Artemis pointed out cheekily. Cecilia had a bad feeling about using the mind link, but she let it slide. They wouldn't cheat, right?

 _"So what have we learned so far?"_ Cecilia asked curiously, keeping her eyes focused on the cards being laid down. She had been too distracted to see Kaldur's move, but Robin had used a card with two red diamonds, and Wally used one with ten red diamonds. It was again Artemis's turn, and she explained as she placed down a card with ten red hearts, _"You can't talk and you have to play a card within five seconds."_

 _"You also have to put down a card with either the same shape or the same number as the one on top,"_ Connor added. Using this information, Cecilia quickly played a card with eight red hearts, _"Thank you!"_

M'gann set down a card with five hearts, only to have Robin hand it back to her with an extra card, "Penalty: playing out of order."

No one could figure out why until five seconds passed and Wally handed Artemis another card, "Penalty: failure to play within five seconds."

 _"So… an eight reverses the direction?"_ M'gann asked as Wally played a card with eight clovers and made the funny donkey sound. Cecilia gave her a discreet, apologetic look. After all, she had caused her to get a penalty. The martian girl just smiled, _"It's okay; you didn't know. Also, I think that we make that weird sound with the clovers."_

 _"They're called clubs,"_ Artemis informed as she set down a card with eight arrows. Wally dramatically handed her another card, "Penalty: failure to call card."

Artemis took the card and hit him with it, causing Wally to yelp and throw some more cards at her, "Penalty: child abuse!"

"Penalty: false penalty," Robin laughed, taking the cards he had thrown at Artemis and handing them to Wally. Cecilia snickered as Wally glared at his best friend. Then, not taking his eyes off of the ebony-haired boy, he slowly reached over and snatched the cards, along with an extra, "Penalty."

Smirking, Robin played down two of his cards and announced, "Ace of spades. One card remaining."

Cecilia looked at everyone else to see if they had caught that. Robin had laid down _two_ cards. Two! But either no one had seen or it was a legal action. She gave Robin a skeptical look, not wanting to speak unless she was sure that he had cheated. He smiled and held a finger up to his lips, signaling for her to stay silent. She narrowed her eyes disbelievingly but ultimately remained silent.

Five seconds passed, and Connor was given the penalty this time. M'gann couldn't play any cards, so she waited for her five seconds to expire and accepted her penalty as well. Cecilia placed down an "ace" with the hearts, which skipped Artemis, and Wally grudgingly drew another card, "Penalty."

"Mau! Ha!" Robin exclaimed, throwing down his last card. Wally, Artemis, Connor, and Kaldur all threw down their cards as well while M'gann severed the mind link, and Cecilia just stared as Wally and Robin stood up and began dancing around like lunatics. _'What…?'_

"That was stupid," Artemis commented bitterly before stalking off. Wally, all smiles, called after her, "You're just a sore loser!"

Cecilia was faintly surprised that Connor wasn't the one to storm away, angry at the card game. She must have misread his character. _'I will pay more attention to him in the future.'_

"So, that was fun," M'gann timidly said as everyone settled down. The three more experienced players smiled at this, and Kaldur suggested, "We should play again."

"No!" Cecilia and Connor both shouted. As fun as that might have been for everyone else, Cecilia had been losing badly, and she still didn't know how to play. But Kaldur looked a little disappointed that his suggestion was so undeniably shot down, so she was quick to correct herself, "I mean… I can not play another game. I need to practice my… sparring, so… yeah…. Would you like to help me?"

"Of course," Kaldur replied. Cecilia really couldn't come up with any other way guarantee that Kaldur's feelings weren't hurt. And besides, she really did need the practice, and an experienced fighter's guidance would definitely help. And so, she led the way to the Mission Room, just thankful not to be playing another round of Mau.


	24. 24 A New Teacher

Cecilia grunted as Kaldur easily caught her back kick, which couldn't have been all that strong because he didn't even flinch. She growled and tried to throw a roundhouse kick at him, knowing that if she waited too long he would send her to the ground, but she lost her balance and ended up on her bottom anyway. Allowing herself to dramatically fall onto her back, she moaned, "Owww…"

"Giving up already?" Kaldur teased, holding out his hand. Cecilia accepted it and allowed him to help her up, "In your dreams."

In truth, she really did want to quit, or at the very least take a long break. They had been sparring for an hour. Her butt was sore from being landed on so many times, and she was sure that there were multiple bruises all along her aching muscles. She rolled her shoulders in an attempt to relieve some of their tension before dropping back into a fighting stance, fists up. The Atlantean smiled at her challengingly and, like every other round, allowed her to move first. She ignored everything and focused on actually landing a hit as she launched herself forward, foot lifted in an impromptu, inexperienced flying side kick.

"Recognized: Batman. Zero, two."

Cecilia's head involuntarily snapped towards the dimming glow of the Zeta-Tubes and the dark figure they had just produced. Her split second of inattention not only destroyed any slight chance she had of landing her kick, but also allowed Aqualad to sidestep and "lightly" flip her to the ground. She let out a startled yell as her back collided with the hard, unforgiving floor.

"You're training. Good, but you need to stay focused," Batman instructed with his near-monotone voice. Cecilia bit back a groan of pain and pushed herself back to her feet as Kaldur asked, "Do you have a mission for us?"

"No. I have found a mentor for Cecilia."

"You have?!" Cecilia exclaimed, forgetting all about her bruises. She internally winced at how uncharacteristically loud her voice sounded in the quiet Mission Room and rephrased with less enthusiasm, "Um, okay. Who did you find?"

 _'Please, please be someone I know! Please be Zatara or Wonder Woman. Or maybe Black Canary… Please be one of them!'_ Cecilia internally pleaded, her excitement growing by the second. A redheaded blur zipped into the room, followed quickly by Wally's voice, "What did I miss? Is there a mission?"

"Wally, your arm is broken," Artemis pointed out as she entered the Mission Room. The others were right behind her, making Cecilia a tad impatient and annoyed at their interruption. This irritation increased when Batman felt the need to quickly explain, "I've found someone who is willing to take Cecilia under his wing."

 _'So not Wonder Woman or Black Canary. Is Zatara going to be my mentor? Oh, please, please yes!'_

"Really? Who is he?" M'gann asked, smiling happily. Wally smiled smugly, "I bet it's Captain Atom."

"No way! It's probably Zatara," Artemis argued, which naturally started a yelling competition between the two. Cecilia noticed Robin's "I know exactly who/what it is" smirk, and she couldn't stop the dramatically impatient look she gave Kaldur. Could they just stop arguing so that not only Robin would know? She felt like her elation and nervousness was going to kill her. He chuckled lightly and smiled at her excitement, evidently finding something funny. She huffed and stared at Batman, anxious for him to end the growing debate.

"Enough," Batman ordered once the topic had degenerated to who was the better mentor, and everyone quieted even though he hadn't raised his voice. Cecilia felt her breath hitch as one of the Zeta-Tubes began to glow, and the familiar female voice announced, "Recognized: Green Lantern. One, four."

 _'Who?'_ Cecilia wondered as a dark-skinned man in a green suit calmly made his way towards Batman. Military. She could tell by the way he held himself that he used to be a soldier, and maybe still was. His face was neutral and slightly hardened and not hidden behind a mask. He had high cheek bones, and his hair was black and cut short. She recognized him as one of the heroes she had seen fighting the plant creatures. _'Probably just a coincidence that he is here.'_

"Cecilia, this is John Stewart. He has agreed to mentor you," Batman introduced the suddenly intimidating stranger. Cecilia had to force herself to breathe and fought hard to keep her face fear-free. _'Or not.'_


	25. 25 Warming Up

"Ha! You lose, Wally!" Robin exclaimed, smiling smugly at his friend. Wally gave him a death glare, but reluctantly pulled some money out of his back pocket, muttering, "Never make a bet with a Bat..."

Cecilia didn't really pay them any attention, instead focusing on the "Green Lantern" in front of her. She wasn't sure who was supposed to speak first. How long has her new mentor been staring at her, probably waiting for her to say something? Half a second? Well, to her it felt like five, and five seconds of trying not to show any timidity under John Stewart's assessing gaze was way too long. She could feel her face turning an uncomfortable shade of red and nervously broke the fleeting silence to hide it, "It is nice to meet you, sir."

 _'Sir? Really? Did I really just call him "sir"?'_ Cecilia ridiculed herself, cringing internally. This wasn't going well. Still, she tried to behave as if the introduction was unfolding perfectly, like a few of the stories Felix used to tell her.

Unfortunately, those were stories.

But she was trying, and that was all she could do. John Stewart didn't seem to care and smiled politely, "Nice to meet you, too. Now what can you do so far?"

Definitely military. He was all business, and Cecilia was certain that he didn't smile too often, although he was certainly more emotive than Batman. She hesitated at having to demonstrate her powers in front of everyone again, but if that was what was asked, then she would deliver. Doing her best to ignore the butterflies that seemed to have trapped themselves in her gut, she closed her eyes and focused on that elusive, flowing energy dancing through the room. She held out her hand and, like she had practiced so many times before, created a rather large stone of solid white light, about the size of her fist. Proud at her accomplishment, Cecilia beamed up at the two adults, waiting for their judgement.

Instead, Wally whistled, "Wow, that's a lot bigger than the first time. Still not very big, but bigger."

"Well, she has been practicing," M'gann reminded him kindly. Cecilia turned her eyed back to her little creation, ashamed at Wally's comment. It wasn't very big, true. But she had thought that it was impressive. Wally's statement and the Leaguers' lack of any immediate reaction only confirmed that she still had a long, long way to go. A sense of failure was quick to infiltrate her insecurities, but she stopped herself before any tears could manifest. _'I am not a failure. I have just begun to learn, so I can not fail yet. But... if it took me this long to make a stone this large, how long will I have to train? When will I be ever helpful?'_

Green Lantern stepped forward and curiously picked up her crystal, examining it thoroughly. Cecilia worriedly held her breath, waiting for his judgement. She was certain that he wasn't scrutinizing her ability, but rather the crystal itself now. Hopefully, it met his expectations.

"Batman said that you could create other shapes as well," John Stewart - Green Lantern - whatever she was supposed to call him stated unexpectedly. Anxiety morphed into brief panic. She didn't know how to do that! She didn't even know that it was possible until yesterday, and that was a complete accident!

"I- I'm not sure that I...," Cecilia began, protectively crossing her arms in front of her and avoiding their eyes. Her gaze involuntarily flickered to, of all people, Connor. The raven-haired teenager looked as stoic as ever, but his blue orbs softened fractionally in what might have been sympathy, and the corner of his mouth inched upwards momentarily. Then she looked at M'gann, who was standing beside him and smiling encouragingly.

 _'I can at least try,'_ Cecilia thought, fully aware that the entire Team was watching her. She closed her eyelids and concentrated on how, exactly, she could pull this off, preferably without encasing her appendages again. Only one logical thought made itself known, so with a nervous exhale of baited air, she held out her hand and "winged it". Since she seemed to be able to make the crystals by condensing that dancing energy into a small area, she tried to now condense it into a line, molding and guiding the energy into the shape she wanted.

It only took a few seconds, and when Cecilia opened her eyes, she couldn't stop the triumphant "Ha!" from escaping her mouth. There, resting in her hand, was a stick of solid, white light. Well, it actually resembled a twig more than a stick, but it was still there and not a sphere. She almost felt smug at how cleverly she had deduced how to accomplish such a feat.

But all smugness vanished at the utterly stoic faces of Batman and Green Lantern. It was as if she hadn't done anything at all. Her hopes fell a bit; she hadn't been impressive enough. Her best hadn't been sufficient. Then Green Lantern smiled abruptly, "Good job, but there is much to improve upon. I will be training you regularly, starting tomorrow. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir. Were you in the military?" Cecilia asked, only realizing afterwards that she had spoken out loud. Her heart skipped a beat as his smile slid into a frown. She felt her face turn red at her mistake. _'Oh no, he does not want to talk about it! Or maybe he is just hard to read? Ugh, stupid, stupid...'_

"Very observant," Green Lantern praised, his face showing interest - not the annoyance or anger Cecilia had expected. She let herself relax, but this time didn't let his praise sink in, fearing whatever he was going to say next as he continued, "Yes, I used to be in the Marines. How could you tell?"

"Sir, I'm a Roman," Cecilia answered. That was really the only answer she had. Rome had a military - a phenomenal military at that - and there were soldiers everywhere in Rome. It was difficult _not_ to figure out if someone was a soldier, to be honest. "It is just a skill we learn."

Batman and Green Lantern exchanged a look, some unidentifiable message being passed between them. Before Cecilia could decide what that meant, Green Lantern had focused back on her, "Until tomorrow, then."

It was a simple farewell, one that Cecilia returned with a hesitant nod, and then he had left, the computer announcing his departure. Whatever Batman was thinking, he kept it to himself and left as well, not bothering to announce his own exit. With the adults gone, Cecilia had no one else to talk to except the Team, who had been uncharacteristically silent during the entire introduction. They seemed to have barely noticed that they were the only ones left and appeared either deep in thought or spaced out.

"Did... that go as badly as I thought it did?" Cecilia asked everyone, dreading the answer. Wally's head snapped up impossibly fast, and he had a startled look on his face, "What was that?"

"You were not paying attention, were you?" It was more of a statement than a question, and Wally's slightly guilty face confirmed Cecilia's suspicions. Kaldur shook his head with an apologetic sigh, "Our apologies, Cecilia. We were busy discussing something important through M'gann's telepathic link."

Cecilia waited for a more descriptive explanation, but none came. She didn't pursue the subject, "Did anyone pay attention to Green Lantern and myself?"

The Team exchanged glances, with Artemis, Wally, and M'gann appearing slightly ashamed. The others, however, quickly assured her that they had been at least partially focusing on her conversation with her new mentor. The twelve-year-old crossed her arms over her chest, briefly allowing her insecurity to show as she peered up at the older children, "Well? How do you think it went?"

"I think that he was impressed," Kaldur stated warmly. Cecilia looked up at him hopefully, "Really?"

"Well, 'impressed' is a strong word. More like 'not disappointed'," Wally interjected. He dodged Artemis's warning-punch and sped over beside Cecilia, wrapping his good arm around her shoulders, "Still, it's a better reaction than some of us got. Uh..."

His voice trailed off at Connor's glowering glare. When he began speaking again, his voice had risen a few pitches, "Anyways, I... uh, you did great and... I'm hungry. Gotta run!"

"And that was about...?" Cecilia began once the speedster's blurry trail had faded. No one answered her question, but M'gann's meaningful look at Connor, who was now staring at a wall with his fists clenched, pretty much told her all that she needed to know: don't bring it up. She looked down and stared at her little light-twig, trying to think of a way to change the subject.

Luckily, M'gann was always good with others and piped up, "How about we throw a little party for Cecilia, since she's getting closer to joining us on our missions!"

"That," Artemis agreed, "and we should probably make sure Kid Mouth doesn't completely empty the kitchen."

Cecilia snickered along with the others at the thought of Wally consuming that much food, and M'gann laughed, "That, too!"

The Team, by some unspoken agreement, began to make their way down to the kitchen. Cecilia was among the last to exit the Mission room, but she stopped when a warm hand gently clasped her shoulder. Startled, her head whipped around to see Connor. For a moment, she thought that he was angry at her, like he was angry at Wally earlier. Then his expression softened, "You did good."

"Thanks," the twelve-year-old smiled. Perhaps he didn't hate her after all.

* * *

 **A/N - Another six chapters down! Only seven more to go. :) Thanks to _Guest_ and _Nightcat_ for reviewing!**

 **To _Guest_ : Yeah, I see where you're coming from (again, if you're the same reviewer). At the moment, she's not supposed to be anything more than a sibling to the Team, because you're right: she's way too young for a relationship. But she's not going to stay biologically 12 forever, thank goodness. I'm glad to hear that I've done well developing this so far, though. And you have an excellent point... Well, no love triangle for them, then. Thanks for pointing that out!**

 **To _Nightcat_ : Haha, glad that you can see them both working out! Also, not gonna lie, those are some pretty great names. I've already decided her sidekick name, which will be stated in one of these upcoming chapters, but I still haven't thought up a good superhero name for when she's no longer a ****sidekick, and what I have thought of were all complete garbage. I'll have to keep all of those in mind. Thank you so much!**


	26. 26 The Costume: Draft 1

**Mount Justice  
October 7, 16:57 EDT**

"But I do not want to wear pants!" Cecilia whined dramatically, earning her some _very_ concerned looks from Kaldur, Wally, and Connor, all of whom were watching television in the Living Room. Face turning a deep shade of scarlet, the twelve-year-old promptly shut her mouth before she made the situation worse, subjecting herself to Artemis's unashamed laugher and M'gann's giggling reasoning, "But you can't fight crime in a dress! Imagine what could happen-"

"Or don't imagine!" Wally called frantically from across the adjoining rooms. Artemis leaned back on one of the kitchen countertops and crossed her arms, "Like you weren't."

"Woah, I may be a hormonal teenage boy, but-"

"We should not discuss this here," Kaldur interrupted with a firm glance in Cecilia's direction. The Roman girl remained blissfully ignorant of the implications of the developing argument, only vaguely managing to grasp what it was about. And that vague idea was more than enough.

M'gann cleared her throat, redirecting the girls' attentions back to the several rough sketches of different outfits spread across the kitchen island. It had been five days since Green Lantern had taken Cecilia as his protégé, and during that time her powers have improved immensely. She was confident that she would be joining the Team soon, and had therefore dragged her two older "sisters" into helping her design an appropriate costume.

"You need pants," Artemis stated firmly. Cecilia frowned unhappily. If her dress was long enough, what would it matter? She would mainly be fighting with her powers, right? Pointing to one of the previous designs, she asked, "But would this not work?"

M'gann only needed to take a single glance at the long, sleeveless gown to make a decision, "No. The primary function of a costume is to both protect you and allow maximum movement. So no dresses."

"I thought that the primary function of a costume was to conceal your identity," Artemis stated. Cecilia smirked, allowing a bit of her bitterness to escape in a smart-alecky comment, "I thought that it was to clothe oneself."

"Ha!" Wally laughed. "I wish. Have you seen some of the older costumes? Especially some of the-"

"Enough, Wally."

"You know I'm right, Kaldur."

The Atlantean evidently had no response to that, so Cecilia continued to focus on her costume options. Most of the designs the other girls created had long pants and long sleeves, a few had short skirts of varying lengths, and some even had short sleeves. Cecilia's ideas mainly included dresses or tunics without sleeves, bound at the waist by a sash, with the skirt draping down past the knee - in other words, her fashion preference was turning out to be decidedly Roman.

"What about this one?" Artemis inquired, handing her another concept sketch. Another one with long pants, long sleeves, and... what was on her face? Cecilia squinted at the stick-like figure modeling the outfit. Was that a mask? She shook her head, "Must I have a mask?"

The older girls exchanged glances, then M'gann replied carefully, "Well, I guess not. I don't wear a mask, but then again I can change my appearance."

"Connor doesn't wear a mask, either, and he wears the same shirt every day!" Wally butted in helpfully. Five seconds later, there was a resounding "Ow!" from the Living Room. Cecilia smirked but didn't bother looking up from her work. She silently sorted through a few of M'gann's drawings, remarking quietly, "My mentor does not wear a mask."

"And neither do I," Captain Marvel added as he entered the Living Room, carrying a large, fluffy blanket. Cecilia watched as the muscular, enthusiastic man handed the blanket to Wally and asked, "Is there anything else you need?"

"Well, I am a bit hungry. How about some nachos?" Wally requested with as little humility as he could. Ever since Captain Marvel had visited a few days previously, the speedster had somehow employed the man into serving his every whim, which Cecilia thought was sort of demeaning and selfish, but the Captain didn't seem to mind at all. Artemis rolled her eyes, Kaldur and Connor gave the redhead looks of mild disdain, and Captain Marvel happily proclaimed as usual, "Sure! I can do that!"

M'gann and Cecilia moved closer to Artemis so that the Leaguer would have room to maneuver through the kitchen. He glanced at some of the concept sketches and frowned, pausing in his nacho-making to comment, "Why don't you like this one?"

Cecilia paused and examined the sketch he was referring to. The pictured outfit was comprised of a short dress with loose sleeves extending past the elbow and tight pants tucked into sturdy boots. She shrugged, not really able to find a suitable argument against it aside from the fact that it has pants, which is evidently a necessity.

Captain Marvel frowned some more, as if questioning something, shrugged to himself, and then went back to making Wally's nachos. Artemis picked up the sketch and looked it over with M'gann while Cecilia grabbed a pencil and tried to create another concept. Perhaps this one could be a dress, but with shorts underneath, and then maybe a belt... and a cloak for special missions... and shoes that-

"I think that Captain Marvel was onto something," Artemis stated, interrupting Cecilia's thoughts. She looked up at the blonde girl, "Hmm?"

"This costume," Artemis clarified. "It looks pretty good. M'gann, you had the right idea designing this."

"Thanks!" the martian girl beamed at the praise. Cecilia stopped drawing and again scrutinized the costume design. Then she raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Are you sure that is what I want?"

"Positive," Artemis promised. Cecilia cycled through her options. On the one hand, she didn't really have any reason to object, and if she was being completely honest with herself she did like the design. On the other hand, it wasn't exactly what she wanted... but then again, she didn't know what she wanted. Setting her jaw decisively, she nodded, "Fine."

M'gann clapped her hands joyfully, "Great! Now we have to color it."

"Um... okay?" Cecilia responded, having only planned to design the costume - not color it. "Why?"

"Well, where's the fun in having a blank costume?" M'gann asked, handing Cecilia some colored writing utensils while Artemis began creating copies of the chosen design. "And everyone sort of has their own color scheme. It makes you easy to identify."

"But Artemis said that we have to conceal our identities. Why would I want to be easily identified?" Cecilia questioned as she pondered over what colors she wanted. She really liked blue, and green was also very pretty, but her light-constructs (as Green Lantern continued to call them) were a bright, pure white, like the clouds when the sun reflects off of them. She her costume needed to be primarily white, to match her ability. _'It seems as if most of my work is complete, then.'_

"You don't want your secret identity to be known," Artemis clarified, handing one of the completed copies to M'gann, who in turn began shading in the picture as she saw fit. "But you do want a costume that stands out, both to make sure that the public knows that you're on their side and so that the criminals know to run."

"I think that Batman really enjoys the latter. Oh, and make sure that you have some sort of symbol! Batman has a bat, Superman has the Krypton letter, the Green Lanterns have that 'o' thing, Green Arrow... does he have a symbol? Or is it an arrow? Kinda hard to tell when the guy dresses like Robin Hood," Wally remarked. Cecilia, knowing that Artemis was going to argue in some way, looked up expectantly to watch the show. She wasn't disappointed, and the blonde shot back, "Meanwhile, the Flash just has a lightning bolt."

"What's wrong with lightning bolts?" Captain Marvel asked, handing Wally his nachos. With a loud crunch, Wally ate about ten of them before pausing to mumble through his stuffed mouth, "Tese are dehisus! Ad ah, wha's wog wit 'ightig bots?"

"Didn't your mother tell you not to talk with your mouth full? I'm surprised your clothes aren't covered in food," Artemis retorted lamely, avoiding the question. Cecilia suspected that she didn't really have anything against lightning bolts, or maybe she just didn't want to offend Captain Marvel. Either way, the conversation made Cecilia realize something.

"Is that why his costume is the color of mustard and ketchup?" Cecilia asked as innocently as she could. There was a moment of stunned silence that was interrupted by Wally's abrupt coughing, "N-no!"

"You hesitated," Kaldur stated calmly. Wally glared at him, "I'm sorry, I was busy dying."

"Oh! I'll get you some water," Captain Marvel offered, rushing into the kitchen. Cecilia's eyes widened. Wally almost _died_? Her eyes landed on Artemis for an explanation, or maybe some assurance that she had not almost caused the speedster to perish. The blonde rolled her eyes, "He choked. He wasn't actually dying."

"You don't know that!" Wally argued as Cecilia, significantly calmer, returned her attention to her costume. She thought about M'gann's earlier statement. _Where's the fun in having a blank costume?_ Deciding that her costume couldn't be entirely white, Cecilia grabbed a pencil labelled "off-white" and carefully shaded in the design's tight pants. It didn't even take a minute for her to complete her work, which she handed to M'gann and Artemis proudly, interrupting the budding debate between the fierce archer and loudmouthed speedster and catching sight of the older girls' drawings. Artemis's was primarily a cool shade of green, and M'gann's looked as if a rainbow had exploded. Holding back a smile, she turned her attention back to her critics.

"Cecilia, I don't think-" Artemis started, looking up from the drawing to meet Cecilia's gaze, which had turned from proud to uncertain. The two older girls exchanged a quick look that Cecilia couldn't decipher, then M'gann smiled broadly and finished, "She doesn't think that, um... Wally could beat you in a drawing contest! It looks amazing."

"What? No one can beat the Wallman in a drawing contest," Wally proclaimed dramatically, standing up for the first time in five hours to suddenly appear in the kitchen, looking over M'gann's shoulder. He frowned with equal theatrical flare, crossing his arms in seeming denial, "It's... not bad."

"Really?" Cecilia breathed hopefully, staring wide-eyed at each of the taller teenagers in turn. Captain Marvel, Connor, and Aqualad all entered the quickly-crowding kitchen for their chance to glimpse her new costume. Captain Marvel was as enthusiastic as ever, "This is great! You really have a knack for art."

"Of course, this is only the first draft," Kaldur stated logically. Cecilia's growing elation did a double-take, "What? You mean I have to do this all over again?"

She stared at her little masterpiece in M'gann's hands. _'Being a superhero will be harder than I thought.'_


	27. 27 The Name Game

"The White Gleam."

"No."

"Glimmer."

"No."

"Shimmer?"

"That's taken, remember?" Artemis irritably reminded Wally, who was busy trying to come up with another possible name. Everyone had moved into the living room and was trying to figure out Cecilia's superhero name. And by everyone... Well, it really was only Wally, who insisted on finding a "more original" title.

"Fine," Wally huffed. Then his eyes lit up hopefully, "Glare Girl?"

Cecilia shot Wally a hard look in response. He smiled, "See, it's perfect!"

The twelve-year-old only shook her head in response. Aqualad had suggested "White Lantern" almost immediately, and to be honest she kind of liked it, but Wally seemed determined to find another name for her. Still, he only shrugged at her disapproval, "Hey, at least I'm trying to help. Oh, I've got it! Photon!"

"She doesn't even know what that is!" Artemis exclaimed. Cecilia would have been offended at her statement had it not been true. She didn't know a lot of things about the current present, and photons seemed to be one of them. With a sigh, the younger girl shook her head, "Really, I am fine with White Lantern. It makes sense: Green Lanterns produce green light and I produce white light. You do not have to make up another name."

"But White Lantern is so 2007," Wally complained. "How about Crystal?"

"How about you leave her alone?" Artemis returned, crossing her arms. Wally, with all of his maturity, stuck his tongue out at the blonde archer. Cecilia watched the scene with fascination, aware that she was learning more about modern social interaction from them than anyone else, but the other teenagers exchanged withered looks. M'gann was the one to speak up, "Cecilia doesn't have to decide right now. Why don't we play a game?"

"Mau?" Wally suggested immediately. Artemis, Cecilia, and Connor simultaneously and fervently shot down his idea. The speedster only shrugged, "You're loss."

"I was thinking more of... Hide-and-Seek," M'gann confessed. Cecilia tilted her head to the side, silently questioning the purpose of such a game. The meaning was, obviously, spelled out in the name, but she didn't know the definition of "seek" yet. So Kaldur had to explain, "The object of the game is for everyone to hide and one person to find them."

"Oh! We played that in Rome!" Cecilia exclaimed, perking up. She had been particularly good at it, coming up with unusual and creative hiding spots that often had her friends giving up. Felix had still bested her on multiple occasions, but that was just how big brothers worked. She smiled fondly at the bittersweet memories that replayed through her mind and offered, "I can be the _seeker_."

"Aww, but- OW!" Wally yelped, glaring at Artemis and rubbing the back of his neck. "Can you not?"

"It's decided then. We'll all hide while Cecilia tries to find us," Artemis recapped, ignoring the speedster. "Cecilia, close your eyes and count to twenty."  
Cecilia nodded, suddenly a bit self-conscious. She was still learning English, and while the letters and words were fairly easy, the number system was difficult. But she obediently covered her eyes and began to count, "One, two, three..."

There was a gust of air - probably Wally sprinting to his chosen refuge - and the rapid patter of quiet feet. Cecilia noted that it didn't sound as if anyone had remained in the living room or kitchen, and she suddenly remembered how utterly huge Mount Justice was. With only five people to find, most rooms would be incredibly empty, and therefore boring. Couple that with the fact that most of them were superpowered...

"... twelve, thirteen, fourteen... Um... eighteen, sixteen, ninteen... Oh, it's been more than twenty, anyway," Cecilia muttered, uncovering her eyes to find the living room predictably empty. Customary to beginning the search, she screamed at the top of her lungs, "HIDDEN OR NOT, I AM COMING!"

 _'Not that they will hear me,'_ she mused, checking under tables and in cabinets. Satisfied that no one had remained in the living room, she moved on to the hallway, thinking of strategies to thoroughly search the entire mountain. She decided to begin at the top and work her way down, closing the doors and turning on the lights of any rooms she visited. So, this placed her in the arena, which was obviously empty. _'At least most of these rooms do not provide much cover.'_

Moving from hallway to hallway, door to door, she quickly determined that no one was in the upper floor. Frustrated at having wasted so much time, she moved on.

The next floor provided the same results. In fact, it was only upon examining the library that she found anyone. Connor was hidden behind a bookcase, reading. He looked utterly bored, but the twelve-year-old was relieved.

"Finally! Where are the others?" Cecilia asked, tempted to give up on the game she was supposed to excel at. He put down his book, which had been titled _To Kill a Mockingbird_ , and shrugged, "I don't know. Artemis came in here, but I didn't see where she went."

"Oh," Cecilia hummed disappointedly. "Well, you are the first person I have found, so you can help me look!"

She made to check the rest of the library, but Connor didn't budge. Instead, he seemed to be scanning the air, his eyes sweeping all over the room thoroughly. At length, he looked back at her, "Kaldur is in the pool that leads to the ocean, M'gann is camouflaged in the Mission Room, Wally is eating cookies in the kitchen, and Artemis is in the ventilation system above him."

Cecilia blinked, "How...?"

"I have Infrared Vision."

Cecilia stared blankly at the teenager, who sighed, "It means I can see thermal radiation. Body heat."

"Next time, start with that explanation. Now hurry, we have to get them!" Cecilia called, already running out of the library. Connor imperceptibly shook his head, "I don't understand this game."

* * *

The others were exactly where Connor had predicted, and it wasn't long before Cecilia was sprinting up to the Mission Room to find M'gann. Evidently, Wally had run from room to room when she wasn't looking, and since she never checked the same room twice he had remained undetected, and Artemis had been completely unfair hiding in the vents. And, apparently, M'gann had camouflaged herself. _Camouflage!_ That was cheating! Of course, none of them had really specified what they could or couldn't do, but one would think that not using superpowers was a given.

But when she reached the Mission Room, Cecilia found M'gann standing plainly next to the Zeta-Tubes, not hidden at all. Cecilia stopped short, puzzled, "Why aren't you hiding?"

A flash of yellow light answered her question, along with the computer's announcement, "Recognized: Green Lantern. One, four."

"Green Lantern, sir!" Cecilia exclaimed, instinctively straightening her posture to one of near-military rigidity. He had drilled discipline into their regular training sessions, and now after only five days it was a second-nature to her. But now he chuckled, smiling genuinely, "At ease."

"What are you doing here?" M'gann asked as Cecilia obediently relaxed. The dark-skinned man's smile morphed into a more serious expression, "Black Canary asked me to be den-mother for the rest of today. But don't worry, I got the impression that you'll be getting a serious workout tomorrow."

M'gann's happy grin faltered a little at this, but Cecilia suddenly remembered her costume drawing and jumped around like a monkey, "Oh, oh, wait here! I want to show you something!"

The Roman girl ran back to the the living room, ignoring the startled questions of the others (who were by now all watching TV and eating M'gann's cookies), and sprinted back to where Green Lantern and M'gann had engaged in some friendly small-chat. Handing her mentor the drawing and catching her breath, she proudly grinned, "We designed my superhero costume!"

"It looks good," he complimented, briefly scanning the paper over. Then he handed it back, commenting, "It needs a little more work, but it looks nice."  
Cecilia could feel herself deflating at his remarks. Her mentor had barely glanced at it, and it wasn't impressive enough. All of her excitement and pride, along with her hope of him approving, slipped away, but she valiantly attempted to cover it up and smiled determinedly, "We also thought that I should be called 'White Lantern'."

"Are you sure that you want that name?" Green Lantern inquired, eyebrows creased with mild concern. It was a legitimate question, Cecilia knew, and one aimed at making sure it was her idea. But instead of feeling honored that he cared, Cecilia just felt rejected. How could he question her chosen name? It wasn't a doubt of loyalty or respect, but the twelve-year-old girl couldn't help but think that it might have been. She had liked the name because it connected her to him, her mentor, and now he didn't seem either happy or honored (not that he should be) to hear it.

Throat constricting painfully, Cecilia could only nod and force a smile, praying that her bottom lip wasn't quivering or her eyes weren't watering. Green Lantern smiled back briefly before turning serious again, looking around, "Where is everyone?"

"In the living room," M'gann answered quickly. "And I think that Wally and Artemis are fighting again."

Green Lantern sighed and hurried off, evidently either unaware that this was a normal occurrence or eager to make sure that it didn't get out of hand. Once he was out of sight, M'gann threw her arms around Cecilia in a comforting hug. The Roman girl struggled to suppress her sobs, something she had become unfortunately decent at, and crumpled up her costume design. A small whimper managed to escape, and she hugged M'gann back, simultaneously berating herself for behaving so extremely and whispering, "He didn't like it."


	28. 28 Comfort

Cecilia let her design drop unceremoniously to the floor, whimpering and sniveling as M'gann rhythmically stroked her hair, trying to calm the twelve-year-old. The young Roman girl knew that she was getting upset over something small. It was irrational, really. She shouldn't be upset, and she felt ridiculous and embarrassed that she was reacting in such a way. She wasn't a baby anymore, for crying out loud! So why was she this unsettled by her mentor not at least recognizing her need for him to be proud?

Some part of her suspected that she was desperately trying to find a father-figure, someone to look up to and aspire to please. Another part blamed her crying on the fact that she was a young girl who had lost her family, home, and entire lifestyle. But it was all she could do to ignore herself and simply look up at the ceiling and wonder, _'Lord above, why did you invent emotions?'_

"Cecilia, it's okay to cry," M'gann soothed in a quiet voice, hugging her closer as a mother might a child. "I told Artemis and the others to distract Green Lantern, so no one is going to see you. And even if they did, no one would think that you were weak. You're one of the strongest girls we know."

"R-really?" Cecilia sniffed, close to allowing herself to believe it, close to letting her fears out in the most humiliating and ugly way human girls could: sobbing. She could feel the dam breaking, the carefully sorted and managed fears and anxieties and nightmares. She was so, so close to telling M'gann everything, if the martian girl hadn't already known through her powers...

"Recognized: Robin. B, zero, one."

Cecilia gasped and quickly wiped away most of her tears, not wanting anyone aside from M'gann and Artemis to see her so illogically broken. Forcing an unconvincing smile onto her face, she stepped away from M'gann's comforting embrace and watched as, in a quick beam of yellow light, Robin stepped through in his civilian clothes.

"Hey, what did I... oh," Robin uttered, observing the two girls from behind his sunglasses. His eyebrows were raised in both concern and sympathy, and he looked right at Cecilia and remarked, "You've been crying."

"N-no. I am well," Cecilia croaked hoarsely, cringing at how false her statement had sounded. It was clear that he didn't believe her, and he raised an eyebrow at M'gann to explain. No words were exchanged, but it was obvious by their changing expressions that they were communicating. Cecilia cleared her throat, annoyed, "Can you not use the mind link?"

"Sorry," Robin quickly apologized, and M'gann simply gave her a guiltily ashamed look that served the same purpose. Cecilia hadn't meant to snap, and she ducked her head in embarrassment, "No, I am sorry. It is just... I can not..."

And just like that, she was on the verge of crying again. M'gann moved to comfort her again, but through the emotional pain Cecilia waved her off. She was fine. She was stronger than this. Heroes didn't cry; they didn't show any weakness, either emotionally or physically, and she was going to be a hero. She needed to learn to control herself, and she did so by drawing in two large, trembling breaths, ignoring the single tear rolling down her left cheek.

M'gann exchanged a concerned look with Robin. They both knew that Cecilia wasn't helping herself by bottling her emotions, but neither of them were completely sure how to help the young girl when she refused comfort. But Robin knew better than anyone what she was going through. When he was younger than her, he had lost his entire family except for his uncle, was adopted by a seemingly emotionless vigilante, and trained to become his crime-fighting sidekick. Sure, Bruce Wayne was a truly awesome guardian with a knack for knowing just what was needed, and he was deeply understanding, but he was also unrelenting in his expectations, which were occasionally difficult to live up to.

"You know, it's okay to cry," Robin began, taking a cautious step towards Cecilia. The Roman girl had almost calmed herself down, but another painful sob wracked through her body at his words. For a second, her puffy eyes met his before they diverted to the ground, and she bit her lip to preventing other spontaneous outbursts, hugging herself insecurely. He continued, "We all do. Even Batman has cried before - just don't tell him I said that."

Cecilia whimpered, attempting to regain control of her turbulent emotions. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Robin carefully come closer, and soon she felt his hand on her shoulder. Another few tears streamed down her face as M'gann joined the Boy Wonder, "It doesn't make you weak. It makes you... real."

"And we know how much Green Lantern's approval must mean to you," Robin pressed on. To Cecilia, if felt like they were driving a knife deep into her heart, hitting the mark with every sentence. But, at the same time, it was strangely relieving, removing a certain burden from her heart. Superheroes did cry; they did show pain, weakness, so it was acceptable for her to as well. Green Lantern wouldn't view her as weak for breaking down, right?

 _'He might,'_ Cecilia thought, her heart aching in an agonizing way. But she shook destroyed that thought, knowing that she should give her new mentor more credit. After all, he was spending his valuable time to help her grow in confidence, ability, and strength. The least she could do was look at him in a more positive light.

"Thanks, guys," Cecilia sniffed, putting a brave smile on her face and looking at each of them in turn. "I am sorry that you had to see this..."

"Don't you ever be sorry, Cecilia," M'gann chided gently, pulling her into a hug. Cecilia hugged her back, feeling a lot better about herself and extremely lucky to have such amazing friends. Robin smiled, a sincere expression that showed both his care and his honesty, "And remember that you can always come talk to us. Besides," at this, he held out her un-crumbled costume sketch, "it's a good design."

Taking back her previously-discarded sketch, Cecilia's smile widened, overwhelmed with how understanding the older teenagers were being. Then she chuckled, although there wasn't a particular reason to, and looked squarely at the Boy Wonder, "Thank you, Robin."


	29. 29 Training

By the time M'gann, Robin, and Cecilia had joined the others in living room, the twelve-year-old's tears had dried and she had a mostly genuine grin on her face. Artemis and Wally were in the middle of an apparently very vehement argument about how to pronounce "syrup," with Green Lantern vainly attempting to quell their bickering. Cecilia, however, was a bit alarmed, "There is more than one way to say a word? How do we know which one is right?"

"We don't," Kaldur replied somewhat wearily as Artemis and Wally, after exchanging brief looks, abruptly ended their conversation. Green Lantern, looking both a little relieved and perplexed at the sudden ceasefire, quickly got to business now that the entire team was present, "I'm filling in for Black Canary as den-mother today. I suggest that we all spend our time wisely and train."

"Um, can't," Wally reminded him, gesturing to his broken arm. Green Lantern frowned, "Then I guess you'll just have to finish your homework."

"I write with this hand. And it's broken."

"I can write for you!" Captain Marvel offered suddenly. He immediately seemed to regret his words, even before Wally shot him a "you are not helping" glare and the others simply gave him startled looks. The older hero appeared shocked over what had come out of his mouth, and he stammered on unintelligently for a few seconds, trying to remedy his slip up. M'gann took pity on him and suggested, "Maybe you could help us train, instead."

"Oh, uh, sure thing," Captain Marvel agreed with a relieved nod. Green Lantern looked around the room decisively, "It's settled, then. I want to see everyone upstairs and training in five minutes. Cecilia, we might as well begin now."

"Yes, sir," Cecilia chanted, obediently following her mentor out of the room without a second glance. When they reached the mission room, the Marine Corp veteran ran her through the usual exercise: stretches, 50 jumping jacks, 50 sit-ups, 50 push-ups, 30 pull-ups, and ten running laps around the room. Granted, she spent the first twelve years of her life as a poor Roman citizen, so she was already (at least in her own mind) stronger than most other girls her age. However, she had also spent almost the past twenty centuries sleeping underground, and until her training had started, she hadn't been exercising properly. Regardless, she was usually able to complete the jumping jacks with only a minor side cramp and struggle through about 35 of the sit-ups before becoming utterly exhausted. Then they would alternate between working on constructing objects of solid-light and continuing the workout.

As much as Green Lantern pushed her, he never gave her than she could take. And at the moment, as she collapsed after a record-breaking 41 sit-ups, she was extremely grateful for that quality. As usual when this breaking point came, Green Lantern helped her to her feet and praised encouragingly, "Good. Now, take a few seconds to breathe. Then we'll pick up where we left off yesterday."

Thankful for the chance to catch her breath, Cecilia took the time to glance at what the others were doing. They had all entered while she was stretching, and now they had broken into pairs for sparring. Kaldur and Connor were fighting a little ways off, in the large circle of light in the center of the room, and Artemis battled Robin not too far to their left. M'gann waited to be rotated in while Captain Marvel watched, calling out tips and advice. Wally lounged on a reclining chair that Captain Marvel had carried up for him, snacking on some popcorn.

"Okay," Green Lantern caught her attention, announcing that her reprieve was over. "Create a small bowl."

This had been the exercise that seemed to work best: her mentor would call out an object, and then she would try to create it. The objects would begin as simple, roundish shapes and become progressively more geometric and complex. Once Green Lantern was satisfied with her creations, they would move back to working out, and then at the end of training they would briefly explore what her powers could do.

But for now, Cecilia closed her eyes and felt the mysterious energy dance around the room. For a moment, she simply let herself enjoy the feeling. After five days of training, she had grown so in tune with this energy that she could sense vague voids in it, like smudges on a mirror. At first, she was confused and worried by the discovery, wondering if the energy was being damaged in any way. But then she had found that the voids only appeared wherever a person, furniture, or other object stood.

"Cecilia, focus."

The twelve-year-old snapped out of her muse and hastily held out her hand, drawing from the energy and molding it into the desired shape. She opened her eyes just to make sure that it was the correct shape, but there was no need. A round bowl, about the appropriate size for holding breakfast cereal, balanced on her hand. Green Lantern looked at it for a moment before moving on, "Shield."

The bowl soon morphed into a handle, from which a large, thick barrier of light soon extended. It was no taller than a table and no wider than a chair, and it was a simple oval in shape. She held it in front of her protectively in an attempt to prove its effectiveness, hoping that it met expectations. He nodded approvingly before calling out, "Sword."

The shield shrunk and thinned into a long plank, and the edges sharpened to dull points. Cecilia gawked at it momentarily. It was a gladius, an incredibly simple but effective type of sword that many Roman soldiers carried. She had intended for it to be - there weren't many other swords that she knew of - but now she regretted her decision. It reminded her of home more than she thought it would.

"Cool," someone - Wally - commented from somewhere else in the room, providing her with a necessary distraction from memories that again begged to be relived. She let the weapon drop to her side and glanced at where the older teenagers had previously been training. Now, everyone was watching her with curious expressions that made her a bit nervous. They usually didn't get to watch her train because of school, and they seemed to be making the most of they're first real opportunity to see what she could do, which made her suddenly a bit self-conscious. What if she messed up?

Either Green Lantern recognized her unease or he didn't like the thought of them cutting their own practice short to watch Cecilia, because he turned and asked pointedly, "Can I help you?"

Kaldur was the first to realize what he wanted, "No, sir. We were just rotating partners."

As the rest of the Team returned to sparring, Green Lantern motioned towards the sword, "You can put that away. We might test how well your solid-light constructs hold up against attacks tomorrow. But for now, I want to see fifty push-ups."

Restraining a groan, Cecilia continued with her workout, managing to complete five decent push-ups before she tired out again. Green Lantern was obviously not pleased with these results but, after pushing her to do fifteen more, allowed her to move on to pull-ups, using his ring to create a bar for her to use. After managing two good ones and ten more that weren't so satisfactory, she was permitted to stop, and they began to focus on what else her powers could do.  
They had discovered the other day that she couldn't fly, at least not at the moment. This was a huge disappointment to Cecilia, who wanted nothing less than to be like her mentor, who could fly. But she was sure that there were other things that she could do, like they had discovered yesterday. They had done some light combat practice, and she had developed a few bruises, but experimental contact with her stones had healed them nicely. Green Lantern had theorized something about energy flowing into her cells, but Cecilia was just glad not to be sore.

"I'd like for you to create the largest construct that you can," Green Lantern challenged. Cecilia opened her mouth to say that that wasn't entirely exploring her abilities, but then he added, "With your eyes open."

' _Oh,'_ Cecilia thought, wondering if that was possible. It should be, considering how much trouble she has controlling her abilities whenever she's scared or angry. But at the moment, she was neither. Nonetheless, she made an effort to keep her eyes open, stretched out her hand, and attempted to locate the source of her powers.

For a good minute, she couldn't sense anything, but she had a feeling that the energy was just beyond her reach, as if she could reach it if she just tried a little harder... The energy appeared around her, faint and unfocused at first, but the harder that she concentrated the more prominent it became, until she could form it into a small sphere in her palm and _watch_ as it steadily grew larger under her attentive direction. It glowed a bright white, and Cecilia was absolutely mesmerized as she continued to cultivate it, her mind centered and at peace as she learned.

Then that moment was destroyed as her focus was broken by Wally's awed comment, "Your eyes are glowing!"

"What?" Cecilia questioned in alarm, halting her progress to look at the speedster. Her mentor also gave the loud teenager a glare, but Wally did his best to largely ignore him, "They aren't anymore, but they were glowing, like your solid-light constructs. Sorry if I distracted you."

Cecilia turned to her mentor for explanations, which he gave, "They were probably glowing because you were concentrating. This is nothing to worry about."

The twelve-year-old wasn't so sure, but she did trust him, and so she dismissed her worries in a bout of faith. Then she turned to look at her friends - all of whom were staring at her again, and most of whom seemed to want to say something or another. She glanced back at Green Lantern as he sighed, "Perhaps we should call it quits. I have a feeling that none of us will get much farther today."

A chorus of gratitude answered him as the Team rushed back to the living room with Cecilia and Captain Marvel in tow, eager to talk about her abilities.


	30. 30 Left Out

**Mount Justice  
** **October 10, 16:58 EDT**

Cecilia sat on the floor of the mission room and watched as Artemis, Robin, M'gann, and Aqualad sparred on the training pad, little numbers appearing holographically whenever someone "scored" against their opponent. Black Canary was monitoring the training while Wally was waited on by Captain Marvel, who had just flown off to presumably retrieve something for the redhead.

"Very good, everyone. I'd say it's been a pretty productive week," Black Canary complimented softly as practice ended. Cecilia stood up and joined the older kids as Artemis laughed, looking pointedly at Wally, "Yeah, for everyone except Kid Malingerer."

"Hey! Arm broken in combat against the Injustice League, here!" the speedster protested, waiving his cast in the air. Black Canary hummed, amused, "I really enjoyed being your, uh... den-mother this week."

"Recognized: Zatara. One, one," the computer interrupted as the magician materialized from the Zeta-Tube in a flash of yellow light. The older hero gave no greeting as he walked over to a control panel and typed in a command. The Zeta-Tube started up again, and the computer announced, "Access granted: Zatanna Zatara. A, zero, four. Authorization: Zatara. One, one."

"Zatanna, this is the Team," Zatara introduced as a girl about Cecilia's age exited the Zeta-Tube, although she could have been older. She had black hair and blue eyes that examined the area nervously, shyly, as he finished the introduction, "Team, my daughter, Zatanna."

 _'Zatara has a daughter? She seems really nice. I hope we become friends,'_ Cecilia mused, walking forward to introduce herself. M'gann reached the new girl first, landing gently from her short flight as she greeted enthusiastically, "Hi! I'm-"

"Robin!" the Boy Wonder interrupted, speaking louder than he usually did. This made Cecilia a little curious, because he was normally very well-spoken, but now he stammered, "I mean, um, I'm Robin. She's Megan. Uh, and that's Wally, Cecilia, Artemis, Kaldur, and Connor."

The odd pronunciation of M'gann's name confused Cecilia even more, but she smiled at Zatanna as her name was called. Kaldur greeted her, "Welcome to the Cave."

"Thanks," Zatanna spoke softly, averting her eyes either in shyness or disinterest. Cecilia wondered how often it was that she met new people, because she was behaving in a very reserved way. Robin must have completely missed this introvertedness, because he jumped right in, stuttering, "So, uh, y-y-you're joining the Team?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. This is strictly a visit," Zatara intervened nervously. Then he turned to Black Canary, "I am sorry we missed the training. It's something from which Zatanna would benefit."

 _'Do the rest of you get the impression we're still on probation with Zatara?'_ M'gann asked everyone mentally. Cecilia couldn't answer, not knowing what either "impression" or "probation" meant, but Connor agreed whole-heartedly, _'Not just Zatara. I mean, why is Marvel still hanging around?'_

 _'Because we like having him around,'_ Wally insisted. This, Cecilia could agree on. Captain Marvel was kind of cool in her opinion. Not the most adult-like, but cool.

 _'You like having him around because he waits on you hand-and-foot,'_ Artemis countered. The speedster gave her a blank look, _'And your point is...?'_

 _'It almost makes one nostalgic for when Red Tornado was our supervisor,'_ Kaldur mused, crossing his arms and looking away agitatedly. Cecilia furrowed her brow, _'Who?'_

 _'Tornado was our den-mother before you came. At least he trusted us,'_ Robin explained and complained. This left Cecilia wondering if Tornado's absence somehow correlated with her appearance. More likely, Robin was just giving her a time reference, but on the off-chance that she somehow caused this person to disappear...

 _'If you ignore the fact that we shouldn't have trusted him! He was the traitor,'_ Connor retorted irately. Suddenly Cecilia didn't care whether or not she caused this "Red Tornado" to abandon his den-mother responsibilities. Connor continued, shouting, _'That machine nearly got M- all of us killed!'_

 _'Wait, wha-'_

"Are... you guys having a psychic conversation?" Zatanna unwittingly interrupted Cecilia's question and drew the attention of the adults. "'Cause I can't decide if that's cool or... heh, really rude."

 _'Was she not in the conversation?'_ the Roman girl wondered, thinking about how quiet Zatanna had been. She say Connor throw the adults a long, contemplative sideways glance before turning to them and admitting, "Alright, fine. We were talking about Tornado. It's been weeks since the attack, and the League hasn't told us anything!"

"Attack?" Cecilia repeated, bewildered. Her question went unheeded as Black Canary answered the more pressing question, "The League is searching for Tornado, as well as the other androids that invaded the Cave and their creator, T. O. Morrow. Batman's made tracking them down our highest priority."

"Wait, the Cave was invaded?!" This was incredibly alarming because it validated her most recent nightmares, most of which involved the foreigner attacking and burying her under the mountain. M'gann, Artemis, and Kaldur gave her concerned, sympathetic glances while Robin pointed out to the older woman, "But you've found none of the above!"

Black Canary's facial expression was blank as she stated firmly, "Not yet. But Tornado is Justice League. The Team is not to pursue this."

"Why don't you all take Zatanna on a... uh... um... tour? Of the cave?" Zatara suggested tentatively, obviously hoping to distract everyone from the argument. Cecilia glanced over at the new girl, who was playing with Wolf, and decided that she could get answers later. Right now, she just wanted to become friends with Zatanna. Captain Marvel's unexpected voice boomed through the room while he entered, carrying a tray of nachos, "You're giving a tour? Cool!"

"Actually, I was hoping that you'd take Wolf outside. He needs the exercise, and we'll join you in a few," Connor requested, significantly calmer now. Captain Marvel beamed, "Sure, sure! I can do that! Come on, Wolf!"

"Maybe you should go, too, Cecilia. I think that he might need help, and Wolf really seems to like you," Robin suggested quietly as Captain Marvel led Wolf outside. The twelve-year-old suddenly had the odd feeling of being rejected. After all, she had really wanted to meet Zatanna, and no one else was volunteering to help take care of Wolf. But how could she refuse? If she would really be helping... And there would be plenty of opportunities to meet Zatara's daughter later...

"Fine," she sighed, turning around and sprinting to catch up with Captain Marvel. It really hurt, how Robin had specifically wanted her to abandon the group in favor of hanging with the older hero, but she tried not to think of it that way. After all, he had specifically asked her to keep an eye on Wolf... who could admittedly look after himself better than she could herself... and Captain Marvel was quite capable of holding his own...

At any rate, she already knew her way around the Cave, and everyone else would be outside in a bit.

Being quite a slow runner, Cecilia failed to catch up to Captain Marvel until he was already outside Mount Justice. At first, she hesitate to step outside the relative safety of the Cave, but she quickly steeled herself and lowered the ramp that led to the outer world before she could change her mind, reminding herself, _'There are no bad guys here. No one will hurt you. If you can not find Captain Marvel, simply go back inside.'  
_

"Fetch!" Captain Marvel's voice rang out beseechingly from somewhere farther into the trees. Cecilia followed it as he called again, "C'mon, fetch! Please...?"

"Captain Marvel!" the twelve-year-old called, glimpsing a hulking flash of red and white through the trees. The black-haired man peeked out from behind the foliage, smiling, "Cecilia! Wow, you guys finished the tour fast. Where are the others?"

As much as she was against lying, Cecilia couldn't tell him that the others evidently didn't trust him with Wolf, so instead she simply omitted that part, "They're still on the tour, but I already know the Cave. What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get Wolf to play fetch," he replied, uprooting a dead tree's mostly-bare trunk and hurling it across the small clearing they had found, begging Wolf to go get it. But the overgrown beast seemed more interested in consuming what remained of the nachos Captain Marvel made. The hero sighed in defeat, "I don't suppose that you know any ancient Roman tricks?"

Cecilia raised an eyebrow, "For getting a wolf to chase a tree? No. When we saw wolves, they usually wanted to eat us."

"Oh, right. So... Do you want to play tag or something?"

The twelve-year-old sighed. She didn't particularly want to do anything at the moment. She was only out there because Robin asked her to be, and she only agreed because... well...

"Are you okay?" Captain Marvel's voice cut through her thoughts like a blade, and she realized that she had been zoning out. Nodding quickly to clear her head, she smiled convincingly, "Yes, I am fine."

"Are you sure? You had this far-away look," Captain Marvel pressed, curious. "What were you thinking about?"

"Robin," Cecilia answered, still unwilling to admit that she didn't really want to be outside in the first place. By the time she realized what she had said, it was too late. Captain Marvel smiled widely, teasing, "Oh, are you?"

"No! Not like... Ugh," Cecilia covered her eyes and looked away in embarrassment. That wasn't what she meant at all! Sure, Robin was kind and brilliant and well-spoken and talented and strong, but that didn't mean anything. And admittedly, it was nice how he had taken the time to make her feel more accepted after the first time she had shown them her power and subsequently ran off after the startling flash of light. Come to think of it, he had known exactly what to do, and she did admire him. _'But I mean, I admire all of them. I do not... I just... I...'_

Okay, so maybe she _might_ potentially like him, but the point is that that still wasn't what she had meant.

Captain Marvel, eyes widening, did not understand this. Even Wolf seemed to be lightheartedly taunting her as the hero exclaimed, "You do like him! You're blushing!"

"N-no! Let us just play fetch or something," Cecilia desperately changed the subject, picking up a rather large tree limb with difficulty and lobbing it as far as she could (which was about three feet). Captain Marvel, with one last, knowing look, picked up the branch and smiled helpfully, "Okay, here's what you do..."


	31. 31 Offended

Once Wolf finished Captain Marvel's nachos, it was fairly easy to get the hang of "fetch". All Cecilia had to do was throw a stick, preferably a large one so that the hulking beast didn't snap it in half, and hurl it as far as she could. Then Wolf would give chase and bring it back, and the cycle would continue. That is, the cycle continued until Wolf evidently became bored and ran off into the woods to do whatever abnormally large wolves do. By then, the sun was almost completely below the horizon, and Cecilia looked up at the sky in anticipation for the stars, only to find dark rain clouds adding to the gloom. Her excited expression fell a bit, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Captain Marvel, who asked, "What's wrong? Don't like the rain?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, I like the rain," Cecilia assured him. "Not how cold it is, of course, but I don't mind getting wet. It is just that I realized something. I have not seen the stars for a while now. It... it would be nice to see them again."

In truth, it would be comforting to know that they hadn't changed in 2,000 years. They were always something of a mystery to the Romans, something just below sacred but slightly more than revered, and even the Christians loved to gaze up at them and praise God for his almighty works. Captain Marvel mirrored her frown now, "I don't think that you'll see them tonight. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Yes. Maybe tomorrow," Cecilia repeated, suddenly realizing that, as long as she'd been staying with the Team, she hadn't really gone outside except for one other time, which ended with a mysterious figure in the forest... The Roman girl shivered at the thought and furtively glanced around, making sure that Wolf and Captain Marvel were her only company. She didn't see anything suspicious, but that didn't mean that nothing was there.

"Are you okay?" Captain Marvel asked. Cecilia glanced up at him before covering, "I was looking for Wolf. Maybe we should find him."

"I'm sure he'll come back when he wants to. Besides, check this out!" Captain Marvel caught her attention as he grabbed a small stone and flew off towards the ocean. Fear coursed through her at the thought of being left alone in the woods, even for a moment, and she was quick to race after him. She found him on the beach, waiting for her and tossing the rock up into the air. Giving her a smile, he tossed the pebble so far into the ocean that, had it not made a barely perceptible splash in the distance, Cecilia would have lost sight of it. Clapping her hands, she praised, "Impressive."

Looking a bit disappointed, he replied, "It was supposed to skip."

"Oh," was all Cecilia could say for a moment. She didn't know how to skip rocks, although her father and brother had both mastered it. "I think that the water is too rough for skipping."

"Maybe," the hero responded, frowning at the water. She followed his gaze, but a group of lights to her right and across the sea caught her attention. The lights had a warm glow and were spaced out at intervals, meaning that they had to be man-made, but they didn't flicker like fire would, meaning that they had to be lightbulbs. Was it a town? Was there really a town nearby? A rain drop hit Cecilia's arm, distracting her for a moment. Then another one fell on her head, and then she began to perceive more drops plummeting around her. "Um, Captain Marvel?"

As if someone had flipped a switch, the floodgates of heaven opened and the skies emptied their watery contents onto Mount Justice. Shrieking in both surprise and inexplicable joy, Cecilia laughed at their bad luck and ran for the cover of the trees, Captain Marvel right behind her. They found Wolf in the area that they had played fetch in, glistening droplets of water dripping from his soaked, white fur. The two humans were in no better condition, minus the fur, and all three of them raced for the cover of the Cave. Cecilia, of course, lost the race, and when she finally did make it inside her sides stung, but she laughed anyways. What were the chances of it raining?

Captain Marvel laughed as well, "I guess we're not playing outside anymore!"

Wolf gave a short huff and, without warning, shook his coat dry, spraying both of them in more water. Cecilia let out a surprised yelp and futilely tried to shield herself with her hands. Captain Marvel wasn't in a better state, although his height was a shield itself, "Hey! Watch it, Wolf!"

The oversized canine, now fairly dry, gave the hero a tired glance before he padded off. The hero sighed tiredly, but he continued to smile as he suggested, "Let's go up to the mission room and see what's taking everyone so long."

With an automatic nod, Cecilia followed Captain Marvel and Wolf through the Cave, but her happy mood had died slightly. She had almost forgotten that the Team promised to join them outside. How long had it been? Thirty minutes? An hour? Two? Enough time had passed for the sun to set, and that was more than enough time to tour the Cave twice. Feelings bruised at this realization, Cecilia wondered why the older teenagers - who she looked up to - would break their promise. Surely there was a good explanation. They wouldn't just abandon them like that, not even Connor would.

 _'Maybe they saw the clouds and decided against coming out,'_ Cecilia tried to convince herself, but that idea had too many holes. She would just have to wait and see.

"-never joining this Team!" Zatara's voice yelled out angrily as they entered the mission room. Cecilia frowned. Who wasn't joining the Team? For a moment, she panicked and worried that he was talking about her, but then she remembered Zatanna. While this made more sense and calmed the sudden, fearful racing of her heart, she had really been looking forward to spending time with Zatara's daughter. She wouldn't mind a few more girls to balance the number of male heroes. This wasn't a concern for Captain Marvel, however, who gained the others' attention by asking, "Um, are they coming out to play or what?"

Zatara and Black Canary exchanged an extremely reluctant look that instantly alarmed Cecilia, then Black Canary stepped forward, obviously choosing her words with care, "They're on their way, Marvel."

"What's taking them so long?" the burly hero asked, an almost childlike innocence about him. Again, Black Canary almost seemed evasive, "They got sidetracked."

"What were they doing?" Cecilia asked, her head cocked to the side. The blonde heroine didn't seem eager to answer, raising the young girl's suspicions, and with good reason. Hesitantly, the older woman admitted, "They went after Red Tornado."

"They... what?" Captain Marvel gaped, shocked. "They ditched us?"

At first, Cecilia didn't quite understand, then her brain began to catch up to the situation. The Team, her closest friends and older sibling figures, had left her in favor of rescuing their old den-mother. This wouldn't have been nearly as back-stabbing if not for one fact: Zatanna, the new girl whose limits no one really knew, was with them. She felt betrayed and replaced, and she was suddenly aware that she was backing into the hallway in shock, shaking her head faintly. Black Canary and Zatara looked at her in concern while Captain Marvel tried to hide his own hurt, but the Roman girl just attempted a failed smile, "I will be fine. I... _I'll be in my room!_ "

Without even realizing her switch in languages, Cecilia ran off, desperately needing some alone time - time to find an explanation for her exclusion.

* * *

 **A/N - I kind of feel like I've been hurting Cecilia a lot, at least emotionally. Is that just me? Because there will come a point where she'll be on the Team and everything will be fine and dandy...** **followed by another bout of unfortunate events, but we'll get to that later. :)**

 **Also, I need to point out something that might need to be addressed... *ahem* ROBIN DOES NOT CURRENTLY "LIKE-LIKE" HER. I'm only saying this because, as I was rereading some of the next chapters, I realized that _someone_ was going to get that confused. They're just friends right now. Not every fanfic has the main character kissing someone by the end of the third (or thirtieth) chapter.**

 **Anyway, my special thanks to _demevonwolf_ , _butterfly1774_ , and _Nightcat_ for reviewing!**

 **To _Nightcat_ : And here's another six! Yes, I am doing the five year gap. In fact, that's where I'm planning for the main plot to take place, so the majority of this right now are set-up and sneak-peeks. I would like to hear your ideas, but don't expect many if any to make it into the story, because I'm trying to be really careful about how the plot plays out. :) Thank you for your constant support!**


	32. 32 Apologies

It was a long while before the Team came back to the Cave, giving Cecilia an ample amount of time to compose herself and think of any and every possible excuse for her not being included. She came up with several: her inexperience, her youth, her smaller size, her undeveloped powers, and more. But all of those theories were disproved by one constant: Zatanna.

As far as she could tell, nobody had ever seen Zatanna before. After all, Zatara saw the need to introduce her, and then Robin had introduced the Team, so she was obviously new. It was unlikely that any of them knew the extent of her abilities, and furthermore her own father had admitted that she would benefit from observing the Team's sparring practice, hinting that her skill in combat was low. So then why was she allowed to tag along? Why was Cecilia brushed off to the side?

Unable to discover any answers, the Roman girl had moved to the living room, deciding to be a big girl and settle things by letting the Team explain their motives, even though her feelings might become even more damaged in the process.

She heard their soft voices before they entered, although she was sitting on the couch with her back to the hallway, so she wasn't actually aware of their presence until the chatting stopped and Artemis hesitantly called out, "Cecilia? You... You aren't angry, are you?"

"Angry?" Cecilia replied, stubbornly refusing to look at them and suddenly wishing very much that she had not wanted to talk this out. "No, I am not angry, only sad."

"You're lying. I can feel your anger," M'gann announced, unintentionally provoking the twelve-year-old. She could feel her powers, which she had worked so hard to control, wanting to burst forth in a bitter eruption, but she held them resolutely in place as she in turn responded, "I am hurt. So is Captain Marvel. You should apologize to him."

"And to you as well," Kaldur pointed out, almost making it unbearable to contain herself. So many conflicting emotions were at war: hurt, anger, disappointment, betrayal, forgiveness, bitterness... She wanted to simultaneously curl into a ball and cry and lash out and punch something and forgive them and not forgive them and _hurt_ someone or... or just scream until her throat was raw! Then Kid Flash decided to open his big mouth, "Look, we're sorry that we left you, but you just weren't ready-"

"And Zatanna is!" Cecilia shouted, whipping around in her seat to face them. The glimmer of crystal light forming under her hand, gripping the couch's armrest, forced her to calm back down, "I know that I do not know much about her, but neither do most of you. But you took her with you, while you left me. Please... please tell me that you have a reason, because I can not find it."

Tears were beginning to prick the edges of her vision, but somehow she kept them in as she waited impatiently for an answer. Several seconds ticked by, but no one offered an explanation. Finally, with a sunken heart, she bowed her head, "I knew it."

"We didn't have a choice. She told us to kidnap her," Robin stated, speaking up quickly. Cecilia glanced at them, surprised, and decided that he was telling the truth. But then her gaze hardened again, "You still planned on leaving me before you left her. If you had left us both at the same time, or at least not told me to play outside, I would not be mad. But you did not even want me to help tour the Cave. You... you did not want me..."

M'gann gasped, "Oh Cecilia! That isn't what we meant at all!"

The martian girl moved to hug the twelve-year-old, but Cecilia shied away from her, hugging herself. Hurt was very clear on M'gann's face, which in turn injured Cecilia's heart further, but the younger girl didn't try to amend her silent statement yet. She regretted not going straight to her bedroom now more than ever, and after a second she shook her head, holding in angry, ashamed tears, "I am sorry... I will be fine..."

She got up to leave, but Robin blocked her path, "Cecilia, please understand! You-"

" _I what?!_ " the teen screeched at him, accidentally reverting to her native tongue. Her crystal light was beginning to coat the ground around her like ice, as she continued to yell at him, knowing that she would regret it later but giving in to the strong, human urge to cause harm, " _I've been training for this! I've been practicing, not only with my mentor but in my own spare time as well! I thought that this is what everybody wanted - what I wanted - but now I know that the team I wish to join - my closest friends - is a pack of selfish, hateful, unthoughtful, horrible children!_ "

With a great, shuddering gasp, Cecilia threw a hand over her mouth and dodged around a shocked Robin, sprinting all the way to her room and locking the door behind her.

* * *

Robin moved to follow the twelve-year-old, albeit at a calmer pace, but was stopped when Connor put a hand on his shoulder and spoke wisely, "Give her some space."

With a bit of hesitation, the Boy Wonder nodded. She would come around eventually, but now he felt really bad about convincing her not to come along. It was true that she wasn't ready yet, and he hadn't expected Zatanna to insist on joining them (not that he was complaining), but somehow those two points didn't seem to justify the fact that they left her like they did. In hindsight, they should have just let Cecilia give Zatanna the tour while everyone else went to rescue Red Tornado. That way both girls would be sufficiently distracted. Simple.

"What did she say?" Kaldur asked, prying Robin out of his thoughts. The Team was staring at him, each curious to hear Cecilia's furious monologue, although the pained expressions on their faces told him that they already knew the gist of it despite the language barrier. Robin grimaced slightly before summing it all up into three words, "She hates us."

"I think we noticed," Wally pointed out, gesturing to the rather large amount of light crystals spread across the floor where she had been standing and even formed vague footprints where she had raced out of the living room. The pattern of the solid-light wasn't smooth and round like it normally was but sharp and jagged, almost like a comically-drawn, two dimensional explosion. Arms crossed, the speedster gave Robin a serious look and repeated Kaldur's question, "What, exactly, did she say?"

Robin shrugged, "She said that we were selfish, hateful, unthoughtful, horrible, and childish, right after she claimed that we were her closest friends and she had been wanting to join the Team."

"Does she still want to join the Team?" M'gann asked hopefully. Shaking his head, Robin sighed, hating how he didn't have an answer, "I don't know."

"I wouldn't exactly blame her if she didn't," Artemis piped up. "I told you that we should have brought her along."

"She wasn't ready!" Wally yelled.

"And neither was Zatanna, to be completely honest, but she held her own pretty well!"

"Zatanna just has to say words backwards and BOOM!"

"Enough!" Kaldur shouted, bringing the blossoming argument to a standstill. He glanced at each teenager in turn, speaking sternly, "Quarreling will get us nowhere. No, she wasn't ready, nor will she be for some time, but we were careless to leave her like we did. What happened has happened, and I suggest that we apologize for it."

A moment of silent shame passed, then the Atlantean turned to leave the living room. Connor frowned, "Where are you going?"

"To apologize."

"Connor's right. Cecilia needs some time to calm down," M'gann stated solemnly. Kaldur paused, "I will not apologize to her until she is ready to listen. I am apologizing to Captain Marvel."

The rest of the Team watched as their leader left, then everyone gradually followed his lead and filed out of the living room until Robin was the last one left. He glanced at the mess of crystal light, wondering if he would have to clean it up, before sighing again and departing from the room like nothing had happened. He debated checking up on Cecilia anyway, despite Connor's warning, but decided against it and trailed after his friends towards the mission room, where Captain Marvel most likely was. _'I guess you got to start somewhere.'_


	33. 33 Forgiving Isn't Easy

**Mount Justice  
October 13, 15:46 EDT**

Cecilia was finding it extremely difficult to forgive her friends. For the past three days, she had adamantly avoided all of them, careful to eat breakfast before M'gann and Connor woke up and spending time in her room when not training or learning. She had been ashamed at her outburst, particularly her name-calling, and otherwise was still a bit vexed with how some of them had more or less excused themselves from their actions. To be honest, she _did_ understand why they left her, but she stubbornly refused to admit it.

But thinking of that brought up an even more heart-breaking question: what would her parents think about all of this? Her father would probably say something along the lines of " _Your behavior is foolish, Cecilia. I'm very, very disappointed in you. Now go apologize and stop behaving like a child - and don't come back until you do!_ " Her mother, on the other hand, would be a little more lenient, " _It isn't their fault, Cecilia. You need to forgive them. Maybe you can join them next time, if you work hard enough._ "

Cecilia groaned and plopped back down on her bed, where she was hiding and training until she either got hungry or was summoned for something important - an unlikely event, but a possible one. Ultimately, she would have to face the teenagers. After all, she lived with two of them. It was past time to let the past remain the past and forgive them, like any good friend would. So, with a sigh, she resigned herself to her fate, _'I have to accept their apologies, if I even don't deserve them. It's what Mother and Father would want.'_

About thirty minutes after she came to this eventual conclusion, there was a timid knock on her door. She was hesitant to open it, not only because it was surely one of the people she had insulted but also because she had just gotten comfortable. The knock sounded again, a bit louder this time, and Cecilia ruefully dragged herself out of bed and opened the door a crack. The mouth-watering scent of freshly baked cookies greeted her nose a full second before her eyes registered M'gann smiling bravely at her, a plate of chocolate chip cookies steaming delicately in her hand.

"Hey," the martian greeted cautiously, smiling all the more as Cecilia's stomach took the opportunity to traitorously rumble at the amazing aroma. Holding the plate out as a peace offering, M'gann began what was probably going to be an apology, "I- I thought that you might want some."

Almost instinctively, Cecilia's hand raised to take one of the enticing sweets, but she hesitated. Was it right of her to take one after what she had said to the martian? No, no it wasn't. Forcing her hand back to her side, the twelve-year-old looked at her friend in the most sincere way she could and apologized, "I am sorry for what I said. You were right; I am not ready, and I should not have taken my anger out on the Team."

"No, don't be sorry," M'gann reprimanded, looking at her straight in the eye, a sorrowful gleam and something deeper in the martian's amber orbs. "Don't ever be sorry to someone because they hurt you. It's not your fault, and it never will be. We shouldn't have left you like we did."

"For the record," another voice, Artemis's, piped up as the archer appeared behind M'gann, "I wanted you to come along."

"Really?" Cecilia asked, surprised. M'gann nodded in confirmation as Artemis answered, "Yeah. Doesn't mean that I expected you to fight or anything, but still."

The Roman girl smiled broadly at this, overjoyed to know that at least one member of the Team wanted her. Both girls exchanged glances before Artemis spoke up again, somewhat hesitantly, "So, um... Are we good?"

"Yes," Cecilia laughed, grabbing a cookie (or maybe four) and practically inhaling them, savoring the taste and not feeling guilty at all.

* * *

The news that she was finally willing to accept the Team's apology must have spread, because in less than an hour Kaldur, Connor, and Wally had all asked for and received her forgiveness. Wally's apology had been the hardest of the three to accept, and it looked almost as difficult for him to say the two magic words (I'm sorry) as it was for Connor. But he had done it, and by dinnertime everyone was pardoned, except for one teenager...

Robin had yet to visit the Cave. Wally had told her that the Boy Wonder was with Batman, fighting bad guys in Gotham City, but she didn't wholly believe it. After all, it was his words that stung the most, although Cecilia still wasn't willing to find out why. He could just not want to apologize, or worse - he could be expecting an apology from her. He did sort of deserve one, after she had intentionally attempted to hurt his feelings, but after M'gann's insistence that she shouldn't apologize, she decided to wait until he came back.

It was past seven in the evening when Robin finally decided to visit. By now, she was playing a game dubbed "air hockey" on a holographic table in the mission room. Despite having little to no experience with anything related to hockey, the basics of the game were fairly straightforward and she was only two points behind M'gann when the computer announced, "Recognized: Robin. B, zero, one."

"Shoot," Cecilia cursed as the puck sailed right into her goal, bringing M'gann's score up to 16. Robin smiled like nothing had ever happened and walked over, his movements a touch too stiff as he questioned, "So, uh, what are you doing?"

"Playing air hockey with M'gann," Cecilia answered shortly as another holographic puck appeared, not looking at him. Her hands started to feel sweaty as an uneasy silence settled, broken only when she managed to score another point against M'gann a couple of seconds later and Robin timidly asked, "Who's winning."

"M'gann," Cecilia responded when the martian girl remained stubbornly silent, jerking her hand towards the clearly-displayed score on each side of the holographic table. Robin scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "Right..."

' _Okay, you both seriously need to work this out,'_ M'gann crossed her arms and stated telepathically, although the link was shut down too quickly for Cecilia to tell if the message was sent to both of them. And just like that, she flew out of the room, leaving the Roman girl alone with the Boy Wonder. A sudden desire to flee made itself apparent, but she resisted, accepting the inevitable. Nonetheless, her cheeks burned faintly with shame and it was difficult to look him in the eye, though he seemed to be having the same problem.

Deciding to break the uncomfortable silence, Cecilia remarked semi-casually, "So... I, uh, heard that you were in Gotham City."

It was a lame ice-breaker, but at the moment that was all she could think of. Luckily, Robin played along and replied with a soft smile, "Yeah, it was pretty rough today. Harley Quinn was blowing stuff up because we threw Joker back in Arkham."

She remembered the Joker from the day those plants attacked a few large cities, but the names Harley Quinn and Arkham were both new. Rolling with it, the young girl gave him a worried look, scanning him briefly for noticeable injuries, "Were you hurt?"

"Nah," Robin shrugged off her concern. "Harley Quinn isn't a difficult villain. She's mainly just annoying."

The Roman cocked her head to the side, trying to appear interested for the sake of being friendly, "Oh, really?"

"Yeah," he rambled on, taking a little disk out of his utility belt - a batarang - and fiddling with it. "She likes to throw a tantrum when her 'Puddin' isn't around. She believes that he loves her, but you'd think that she'd learn he's not interested by now."

Cecilia didn't even try to decipher whatever he had just said. Understanding only that Batman and Robin had stopped an evil, lovesick girl, she huffed and smiled sadly, "I wish that my mentor would take me places."

"Well, your mentor mainly handles intergalactic problems, so he can't really bring you along," the ebony-haired teen informed unhelpfully. Rectifying this comment, he added, "But I'm sure that you could convince him to take you around Happy Harbor."

"You think so?" Cecilia questioned, trying to recall where she had heard that name. Vaguely, it occurred to her that Happy Harbor was a town nearby. M'gann and Connor mentioned it every now-and-then.

"Sure. Or better yet, we'll give you the tour tomorrow. How about that?" Robin suggested as he pocketed the batarang, speaking quickly now and looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Cecilia's stomach fluttered hopefully, and she glanced at him with her lips parted and breath held, barely daring to ask, "Really? You would do that?"

"Why not? Maybe we'll even fight some villains," he promised, smiling easily now. Then he coughed, a light flush of his cheeks barely noticeable as he continued, "Think of it as an apology for brushing you off like we - I - did..."

Cecilia ducked her own head in shame, remembering the unkind words she had thrown at him, "I am also sorry. You did not earn the names I called you."

"There's nothing to be sorry for. To be honest, I probably deserved some of them," Robin assured her. "So... am I forgiven?"

The twelve-year-old, a warm feeling in her chest, shook her head, "There is nothing to forgive."

Robin's previously stiff posture seemed to relax at her declaration, and Cecilia beamed at him happily, glad that she was back on good terms with the entire Team. A lightness formed in her chest as she began to think about what could happen the next day. What was Happy Harbor like? Were the people there friendly? Was it fun to visit? Did it have those odd, tall buildings that she saw on television the day that the plants attacked?

Only one thing was sure: she couldn't wait to find out.


	34. 34 Happy Harbor

**Mount Justice  
** **October 14, 15:31 EDT**

Today was the day. Cecilia was finally going to explore one of the local towns, Happy Harbor. She had to wait all day for the Team to finish school, during which she trained and studied English, and now school was out, according to Red Tornado. The automaton was keeping her company until the Team arrived, although he wasn't doing much aside from standing in the middle of the room, watching her pace back and forth impatiently, her hands clutched together and her breaths deliberately deep and slow.

"Perhaps you should sit down until the Team arrives," Red Tornado suggested. Nodding, Cecilia stopped her pacing, but then she continued it a moment later with a shake of her head. Her stomach was fluttery and her heart was beating faster than usual, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't stay still. Wherever her friends were, they needed to hurry up...

She had put on her best clothes for the occasion: a plain, green sweater with some dark blue jeans and short, brown boots. M'gann and Artemis had helped her pick the outfit out a while ago for any special occasions, and at the moment she couldn't think of a more special occasion than this. She was finally going to see the outside world - humanity - for the first time in nearly two thousand years. She had seen glimpses of it on TV, and of course she could guess how much it had changed through her interactions with the Team and Justice League, but to actually _be_ there...

"Recognized: Superboy. B, zero, four. Miss Martian. B, zero, five."

Cecilia perked up upon hearing the computer announce the first arrivals, knowing that they must have just pulled into the Cave on Connor's motorcycle. That meant that everyone else had to be arriving soon. So who would be next? Wally? Artemis?

"Recognized: Aqualad. B, zero, two," the computer declared as light radiated from one of the Zeta-Tubes, fading to reveal Kaldur, dressed in his usual civilian clothes. He smiled when he spotted Cecilia, "You look excited."

"I am excited!" the Roman girl laughed, bouncing on there tips of her toes. "I just want everyone to hurry up."

"Remember: patience is a virtue," Red Tornado reminded her, but she didn't pay him much attention. Again, this was the first time she'll see civilization in over 2,000 years. Who wouldn't be impatient? Of course, the computer's next announcement of "Recognized: Artemis. B, zero, seven." didn't help much. The blonde archer raised an eyebrow as she exited the Zeta-Tube, remarking, "Well, don't you look nice."

"You said to save this for a special occasion, and what better occasion than this?" Cecilia asked, looking down at her outfit. M'gann and Connor entered then, with M'gann sharing a knowing look with Artemis, "I could name a few."

' _What's that supposed to mean?'_ Cecilia wondered as the computer announced, "Recognized: Robin. B, zero, one."

"Sorry I'm late," Robin apologized, adjusting his sunglasses. "Also, KF texted me. He's going to be a little late."

The Team glanced at one another, wondering if they should wait up for him, then Artemis shrugged, "He probably got held up at school or something. He'll catch up."

"No!" Cecilia exclaimed, eyes wide. "It would be wrong to leave without him."

"Well," Connor began, scratching the back of his head, "the sooner we get there, the longer you'll have to explore Happy Harbor."

"Besides, we don't know how long he's going to take," Robin reasoned. "He didn't exactly tell me what's going on."

"And I can direct him to you location when he arrives," Red tornado added helpfully. The twelve-year-old considered this for a few moments, and ultimately her desire to get out of the Cave triumphed over her manners. After all, he would catch up eventually, and although he might miss some things at least nobody would have to wait. So she nodded, feeling a little guilty, "Okay, let us go."

* * *

After a very, very stressful ride in the Bioship (M'gann's living ship that Cecilia had forgotten was in the hanger bay and hadn't known FLEW IN THE FLIPPING AIR), they landed in the trees just outside of the little town, in what M'gann called "stealth mode". Cecilia was one of the first ones off of the red-vehicle-of-death, grateful to be on land again. Between the "seatbelts" that automatically strapped you to your seat and the fact that they were traveling about twenty times faster than a war stallion at about the altitude of the top of Mount Justice above a seemingly infinite ocean of destruction, she decided to stick with _walking_ to her destination. But now they were finally at Happy Harbor, and she was all too glad to follow the Team and head towards the futuristic city.

She found herself fidgeting with the hem of her shirt as they made their way through the trees, the other teenagers making idle chat with each other as she tried to imagine what Happy Harbor was like. The image of a port city, with smiling and kind citizens and tall, shimmering buildings like the ones on TV came to mind, with an open market in the center selling fresh bread and milk and a few humble musicians playing by the streets. She recalled when her own father would stand by the intersection of two random roads and play a flute or a lute, sometimes with her mother dancing to attract an audience, other times with her brother beating a drum or clanging a couple _cymbalum_. And every now and then, Cecilia was allowed to join them, normally either singing or playing the pan flute. The memory brought a smile to her face; those memories were among her fondest...

"WATCH OUT!"

Cecilia froze, snapping out of her reverie just in time to be knocked off her feet by a large mass. Next thing she knew, she was laying on her stomach in the... rock? She hadn't noticed because of zoning out, but they were all on a long black stone similar to the descriptions of rocks formed around volcanoes. Groaning at the scrapes the peculiar stone created, she pushed herself onto her knees and gratefully accepted Kaldur's outstretched hand as Connor helped Wally to his feet. _'Wait, Wally?'_

"Nice going, Baywatch," Artemis frowned cynically, crossing her arms. Wally grimaced, his lungs heaving, "Nice to... see you, too... Sorry, Cecilia. That tree root had it out for me."

Robin let out a bark of laughter, "Did you run the entire way here?!"

"Hey, my honor was at stake!"

"You lost a bet, didn't you?"

Wally ignored Robin's question and stretched, popping a few back and shoulder joints before asking leisurely, "Okay, so who's ready for a tour of Happy Harbor?"

Cecilia looked around and noticed for the first time that they were on the outskirts of the town, with stone or wooden buildings and light, sloped roofs. The black stone wound its way between the buildings like a road, which she followed along with the Team. The Roman girl gazed at the structures in wonder, fascinated with everything the concept of glass windows to the front porches to the shingles on the roofs. As they approached the center of Happy Harbor, some of the buildings also had large signs and grew bigger than the average house, and M'gann (her skin now a began pointing to them, "That's the Happy Harbor High school, home of the Bumblebees. You'll be attending once your tutoring is done. And over there is the Bowl-O-Rama, where you can go bowling. It's a sport that we'll have to teach you later. And here is the local-"

"Arcade!" Wally finished for her, punching Robin's arm to get his attention. "Dude, I challenge you to a game of Pac-Man!"

"Highest score wins," Robin accepted. They ran towards the building, with Robin calling over his shoulder, "C'mon!"

Cecilia looked up to see Kaldur shaking his head, an amused expression on his face as he stated, "We might as well follow them."

"I would rather go bowling," Cecilia heard Connor mumble as they followed the enthusiastic teenagers inside. The Roman girl gasped as she walked through the door, a bit overwhelmed at the sudden change in atmosphere. The large room, filled to the brim with different stands and machines, was dimly lit and flowing with teenagers, mostly guys. Bright, flashing lights with unnatural colors danced around the room to the beat of loud, unfamiliar music, giving Cecilia a faint headache as she tried to keep up with it all. Robin and Wally were clustered around one of the strange machines with an incomplete circle on the side, but before they could follow the two boys another voice stopped them, "Hey, Connor! Megan! What are you guys doing here?"

Cecilia looked around for the source of the noise and saw a teenager about Connor's age with light skin, brown eyes and longish brown hair. He had on a white shirt with a green superhero emblem that she didn't recognize, although now that she thought about it, everyone in the room had on shirts with similar emblems, some of which were familiar and others that weren't. Connor returned the greeting, "Oh, we're just showing our friends around."

"Cool," the boy responded, catching sight of Kaldur, Artemis, and Cecilia. He introduced himself with a friendly smile, "I'm Marvin White."

"I'm Artemis," the blonde archer announced, not quite smiling but also not unfriendly. "That's Kaldur, and this is Cecilia."

"A pleasure to meet you, Marvin," Kaldur greeted while Cecilia gave him a small wave, sure that if she opened her mouth she would say something wrong or embarrassing. Thankfully, she wasn't required to speak, and Marvin moved right along, "So, what brings you all to Happy Harbor?"

Cecilia's gaze shifted to the Team, who obviously hadn't thought of an excuse for M'gann and Connor to be walking around with five obviously unrelated people who have obviously never been to Happy Harbor. They all shifted around uneasily for a split second before Artemis spoke up cleverly, "We, um, are family friends of the Kents! Yeah, our families are all catching up right now at home, so we decided to take a tour of the town. They were all in college together."

"What is college?" Cecilia asked before she could stop to think about what she said. Artemis almost face-palmed, but M'gann saved their cover story, "E-except for Cecilia here. She's, uh, my cousin."

The Roman girl hid her surprise the best she could, sneaking a glance at her martian friend. Sure, their hair colors and skin tones were similar, but other than that they didn't really look alike. Still, it was best to just roll with it as Marvin gave her a confused look but stated kindly, "Cool accent. Where are you from?"

"Italy," Kaldur answered for her. Marvin frowned as he considered this, but his face lightened a moment later as he appeared to accept it. Giving everyone a wave, he began to move towards the door, "Nice. Well, I'm headed to the Bowl-O-Rama to meet with Wendy and the others. You're all welcome to tag along."

"Thanks, Marvin," M'gann thanked him with a wave as he left the arcade. Cecilia felt a smile light up her face. He was nice, which meant that everyone else would probably be nice as well, unlike in Rome where strangers were avoided by everyone except those looking to profit from them. With that in mind, the twelve-year-old stood up a little straighter, eager to explore the town further.


	35. 35 Failsafe

**Mount Justice  
October 16, 16:02 EDT**

Cecilia smiled proudly at the Green Lantern poster - the newest and only real decoration in her room. It was simple, consisting mainly of a white Green Lantern symbol against a green backdrop, but nonetheless she was happy to have it. The Team bought it at Happy Harbor during their exploration two days earlier, using that odd paper money as well as metal coins. The modern number system - let alone their monetary system - eluded her. She understood that "I" translated to 1 and "X" into 10, but after that the different symbols got all jumbled up. Words she could work with because the letters were basically the same, but numbers? Not so much.

With one last, appreciative glance towards the poster, she headed towards the hangar, where her mentor would be training her for the day. The Team - or more specifically, Batman - had already claimed the Mission Room for their own training exercise: a simulated mission that would be experienced through the mind. Batman had almost let her join the exercise, as this simulation would be a good way to test her skills without putting her in danger, but ultimately decided that it would be more beneficial for her to build on those skills in the meantime. The exercise was for the Team, which she was not a member of. Yet.

She refused to let this get her down again, however, and was eager to get her powers under control and then expand them to their limit. For the past few training sessions, John Stewart had been pushing her to really experiment with her light creation, which was both nerve-wracking and exhilarating. She supposed that doing so would help increase both her confidence and the rate at which she was improving, but if something went wrong...

Shaking her head to prevent herself from imagining any unpleasant scenarios, Cecilia finally reached her destination, bravely smiling at her mentor as she approached. He gave her a brief, kind grin in return before reverting to his usual seriousness, "We're going to try something new today. Your light constructs won't be able to do much good if they never leave you hand, so you're going to stand here and create a construct on this table."

The Green Lantern raised his fist and created a simple table about three feet in front of Cecilia, far enough away to be out of her reach. A couple butterflies flitted around her stomach, but she knew that any form of arguing would be pointless. He expected her to do this, so she would try, just as she has been doing since he became her mentor two weeks ago. Taking a breath to steady herself, she closed her eyes and held out her hand, sensing that same dancing energy that has become such a comfort to her. Interestingly enough, the energy seemed to be concentrated in the table, failing to leave the normal void that occupied other structures. _'So it must be made of the same energy I use to create the light crystals...'_

With this new knowledge, she tried to focus the energy not around her hand as she was used to, but just above the table construct. At first, the energy was unyielding, then it began to gather closer to her outstretched arm. Her face contorted with concentration as she pushed against herself, directing the stubborn flow to the desired focal point and quickly exhausting both her mind and her arm. Her muscles strained and her forehead began to sweat and all of her concentration was focused on getting that stupid energy to cooperate like a Roman Centurion directing a stubborn Legion, but slowly, _gradually_ , it began to form into a sphere on the table, until her task was complete.

Sweating and panting, Cecilia looked up at the Green Lantern for approval. His face was frowning, as if in thought, and his head was nodding - a good sign. She had impressed him. Honestly, she had impressed herself. She had broken a wall, conquered a limit, achieved what she hadn't considered, and she was proud of it, allowing a smug feeling of invulnerability to come over her for the briefest of moments. A light, giddy chuckle escaped her heaving lungs and she smiled, "Anything else?"

John Stewart raised an eyebrow at her, his frown morphing into a smug smirk of his own that made Cecilia wish that she hadn't spoken. Then he uttered the three most despised words in training history, "Do it again."

Cecilia dropped her head in fatigue. Why did she bother...

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the task of creating a light construct at a distance was becoming significantly easier, with the physical strain diminishing after each trial. Well, either that, or she was losing feeling in her body. She couldn't tell which it was yet. Luckily, she didn't have to find out, because suddenly Green Lantern frowned and interrupted her concentration, "Something has happened to the Team. Martian Manhunter requests your presence."

"Wait, what?" Cecilia gasped, the crystal she had been trying to make shriveling up with her shock. "Are they hurt?! What happened?!"

"I don't know," her mentor admitted, already striding towards the Mission Room. "But it sounded urgent."

Cecilia's eyes widened as she chased after him, her mind already fearing the worst. What could possibly have gone wrong in a training simulation that didn't even physically take place? It wasn't like any of them could die or get injured... right?

But as they quickly approached the Mission Room, Cecilia could distinguish the muffled sobs of someone either in mourning or very frightened, framed by the otherwise dead silence broken only by the _pat-pat-pat_ of running feet. The Roman girl followed her mentor's lead as he slowed to a walk before entering the room, looking around. Closest to them were Batman, Red Tornado, and Martian Manhunter, none of whom looked away from their emotionless observation of the Team. Robin sat on a thin, bed-sized block - one of six that were positioned in a circle around the center of the room. Artemis and Kaldur were also seated on the blocks, heads bowed solemnly, and Wally was leaning against one with his back turned to them. Connor was standing on the far side of the room, his back also facing them and his left arm folded over his chest, gripping his right arm. Even farther away, Captain Marvel was holding a crying M'gann, attempting to comfort her even though she seemed unable to be consoled, whimpering and hiccuping. Green Lantern approached Batman, quietly voicing the one question that they both wanted to know, "What happened?"

"More than one might think," Martian Manhunter responded, holding a green hand to his bald head. "More than we imagined could happen. It is fortunate that Cecilia was not included in the simulation."

"But what happened?" Cecilia interrogated with a firm look, wanting a straightforward answer and panicking slightly at seeing the cheerful, collected, and generally happy teenagers that were her only friends so clearly distraught. Martian Manhunter glanced at the Team, then shook his head and answered softly, "You will know later. For now, your efforts are better spent here."

As she turned back to the Team, who looked as if they were preparing for a funeral, Cecilia heard the adults leave, presumably to discuss whatever they weren't telling her about the incident (which was just about everything). With a short puff of indecisive air, she exchanged looks with Captain Marvel, who was still trying to comfort M'gann, and realized, _'Whatever just happened, they're not going to be recovering for a long while...'_


	36. 36 Helping

**Mount Justice  
** **October 18, 15:47 EDT**

Whatever had happened in that simulation, it had affected the Team irrevocably. Cecilia had tried everything to fix their morose moods: movies, games, food (she was now banned from the kitchen), outdated - like, Roman Empire era outdated - jokes, random hugs, talking... Nothing worked! She had even resorted to risking another prank war, disobeying Black Canary's ban on practical jokes by using colorful sticky notes to _completely_ cover the kitchen and living room with various designs like rainbows and smiley-faces and stick what Red Tornado called "googly-eyes" to all of the food in the refrigerator _and_ litter the ground with cups partially filled with water. All three were Captain Marvel's ideas, and he helped her buy the necessary materials and set them up. But all that accomplished was making everyone annoyed and irritated, not bubbly and laughing.

So now, two days after the failed simulation, Cecilia was out of ideas on how to cheer up her friends, and she currently had no one to help her think of things to do except for an automaton. So while the rest of the Team sulked in the living room - M'gann was making dinner while the others were silently lounging around - the Roman girl slipped away and headed for the Mission Room, the only place where she had any chance of finding Red Tornado. Luckily enough, he was there, typing away at a holographic computer. He didn't seem to notice her arrival, but he also didn't react in a startled manner when she spoke up, "I need help."

"Batman typically prefers to let you work out your problems alone," Red Tornado responded, pausing in his work to send her a blank glance. "However, because the Team is currently preoccupied, I will do what I can. What do you need?"

"I want to help them," Cecilia confessed, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "The Team, I mean. But I don't know how. Everything I've tried has failed to cheer them up."

"Sometimes, human beings become emotionally or mentally damaged, and unlike physical injuries, such wounds are difficult to heal and often require copious amounts of time," the robot replied monotonously, spouting out words that Cecilia would have to look up later. Then he helpfully resigned, "But I have heard that engaging in stimulating activities or presenting gifts can improve a friend's overall emotional wellbeing."

"Um... Okay," the Roman girl nodded, beginning to zone out in thought. There was only one word in that entire speech that she really understood: gifts. She would buy them all gifts, or perhaps she would make them somehow. But she didn't have any money, Happy Harbor was a decent walk away since she wouldn't be flying, and who knew when Captain Marvel would come back, so she didn't exactly have a way to get anything...

Red Tornado, thankfully, seemed to anticipate this problem and, after typing a few more things into the holographic computer, motioned for her to take over. She did so hesitantly and scrutinized the screen, which displayed a long list of items with words beside them, followed by an "S" with a line through the center and several numbers. There was a blank rectangle at the very top with a magnifying glass beside it, as well as the words "Amazon" with a smiling arrow underneath. Cecilia glanced at the automaton quizzically as he explained, "This website will allow you to search for and buy gifts for the Team. Simply type in what you wish to find, or browse through different categories."

The Roman girl suppressed the uneasy feeling in her stomach and turned back to the computer, glancing from the screen to the keyboard and back again. Aside from different games that Dr. Jones would have her play during English lessons, she'd never used a computer before, and shopping in anything other than an actual marketplace was a foreign concept. What was she supposed to do? How did she pay? How do the goods get delivered? How did the sellers know what to sell and where to bring it? Or would she have to find the sellers and pick up her purchase? With a faint chuckle, Cecilia stepped away from the holograph, scratching her neck, "Could you show me how?"

For a moment, Red Tornado just stared at her with his emotionless eye slots, processing who knows what, before he diligently returned to the computer and inquired, "What type of gifts did you have in mind?"

A frown emerged on the twelve-year-old's face as she debated what each member of the Team would want, then her lips twitched into a smile, "Well..."

* * *

Three business days later, John Stewart stepped out of the glowing Zeta-Tubes with a neutrally displeased look on his dark face, and his brown eyes landed on the only other person in the Mission Room: Cecilia, who was entertaining herself with an online website called Math Playground that Dr. Jones introduced her to the previous day. Although she hadn't seemed to notice his presence, the Green Lantern didn't hesitate in asking, "Do you know why I suddenly have six Amazon boxes sitting on my front porch?"

"They came!" Cecilia exclaimed with a bright smile on her face, completely missing the look of annoyance that passed over the former Marine's face as she abandoned her game and questioned excitedly, "Where are they? Did you bring them here?"

"Uh... No," her mentor answered, furrowing his eyebrows. "Cecilia, what are they?"

"Presents for the Team!" the Roman girl replied cheerfully, beaming up at him. However, his stern face failed to soften, causing the twelve-year-old's smile to fade. Was he upset? It was possible, since he probably hadn't been expecting to receive anything. She averted her eyes and clasped her hands behind her back, stammering, "R-Red Tornado thought that... I mean, they could not have been delivered here, so... I meant to tell you, but I forgot."

John Stewart pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a breath of air before announcing, "It's fine. Just don't forget next time, got it? People don't like it when mysterious packages arrive on their front door."

Cecilia nodded earnestly, "I'll remember."

"Good," Green Lantern replied. Then his gaze softened, and he actually chuckled, "Now the Team will get out of school in about an hour, so we'd better get those gifts to the living room."

* * *

An hour later, each smiling Amazon box was sitting in front of the television, and Cecilia was sitting on the couch, uncrossing and recrossing her legs, intermittently standing up to pace only to sit down again, and generally just trying to make herself comfortable until the Team began to arrive. Time moved agonizingly slowly, making the twenty minutes that she waited seem like five eternities, but her diligence was rewarded when the computer announced throughout the Cave, "Recognized: Aqualad. B, zero, two."

Cecilia practically jumped up in anticipation, but she forced herself to remain sitting. Red Tornado was supposed to direct each teenager to the living room, and even if he didn't, the Team usually ended up there anyways. Sure enough, just as the computer was announcing Connor and M'gann's arrival, Kaldur entered the kitchen and glanced at the presents, tilting his head to the side and raising his eyebrow, "What is this?"

"I bought gifts to cheer you up," the Roman girl answered, monitoring his face for his reaction. Kaldur slowly blinked once, twice, and then he smiled appreciatively, "Thank you, Cecilia. May I open mine now?"

The twelve-year-old quietly exhaled, relieved that he hadn't completely rejected her gift from the start, and replied, "Sure. Yours is the small one on the table."

Kaldur approached the coffee table and carefully picked up the small, almost perfectly cubical cardboard box and, after gently shaking it, pried the package open. A smile lit up his face as he pulled out what looked like a small, white spotlight and read, "'Remote-control ocean wave night light projector and music player.' Thank you, Cecilia. It was thoughtful of you to get this."

"What was thoughtful?" M'gann asked as she and Connor joined them. Kaldur brandished his present and informed, "Cecilia has bought each of us gifts."

A redheaded blur zipped around the room, as if summoned by that word, and skidded to a stop in front of the packages, "Sweet! Which one is mine?"

Cecilia laughed and pointed out which packages went to who. Wally was swift in opening his: a green "beret", similar to the one he had been so excited about after one of their previous missions, which he immediately thanked her for. M'gann revealed hers next: a recipe book, which she also graciously thanked her for. Connor was a bit slower with his gift, and he almost seemed unsure of what to do with the rather tall cardboard box he had been given, but he refused help regardlessly. His gift, when he finally opened it, was a large, blue punching bag. Connor seemed doubtful of its sturdiness, but nonetheless grunted a brief, "Thanks."

Well, that was probably the best she was going to get out of him, but as long as it cheered him up, it was worth it.

Artemis and Robin walked in about five minutes apart while the others were revealing their gifts. Artemis was pleasantly surprised, and she opened her package to reveal a dartboard, which seemed to bemuse her. Robin also perked up when he discovered the gift-opening, but his face fell when he realized one important detail, "Where's my present?"

Cecilia gulped and silently pointed towards the kitchen. He and Artemis had been the hardest to find presents for, mainly because she didn't know what they were interested in. Unfortunately, this meant that she had to do some searching and guesswork. While she was satisfied with the dartboard for Artemis, she wasn't sure if Robin would like his gift, and she anxiously scrutinized his expression for signs of rejection as he spotted the small bouquet of blue aster flowers in a vase. His mouth parted into a half-smirk, like he wasn't sure whether or not to laugh, so she quickly explained, "You always talk about 'feeling the aster', so I thought that you might like them. But, uh, Captain Marvel found some interesting sunglasses with mirrors in the lenses, if you'd rather have that..."

"Are you kidding?" Robin laughed, picking up the flowers. "These are great, Cecilia. I'm going to take them back to Gotham before they wilt."

"And I'm going to move this punching bag to my room," Connor added, easily lifting the object that Cecilia couldn't even budge with the help of her powers. One by one, the other teenagers excused themselves, either to show off their gifts or find a place to put them. But as M'gann left, Cecilia couldn't help noticing that the sadness had returned to the green-skinned girl's face. The twelve-year-old's chest seemed to tighten at the sight. What did that mean? She had been so happy a few minutes ago... What went wrong? Were the others still sad as well?

"Wally," Cecilia caught the attention of the only other person left in the living room, who had been staring at his green beret in deep thought. He glanced at her attentively, allowing her to begin with an uncertain voice, "Uh, did the presents make everyone happy?"

"Yeah, everyone loved them," the redheaded speedster replied with a bright smile. "Why?"

"Because M'gann still looks sad," the twelve-year-old answered, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I mean, I know that gifts won't make you happy forever, but I thought that it would cheer you up for a while longer."

Wally put a hand on her shoulder, locking somber eyes with her, "I know, and we appreciate the effort - we really do - but you just don't know what went on in there. Cecilia... We were trapped in a no-win scenario, with aliens invading the earth and disintegrating everyone. Everyone died: you, Captain Marvel, Flash, Artemis...," his grip on his beret tightened subconsciously at the blonde archer's name, but he continued, "One by one, we each sacrificed our lives, believing that it was real, only to wake up and - Surprise! - it was all a dream. People don't just heal from these things, and I know that you understand that."

Cecilia nodded dumbly, amazed at his recount of events. She had no idea... Obviously, she had deduced that whatever happened had been horrific, but to watch everyone die... The Roman girl let out a long, deep sigh. _'I guess all I can really do is be there for them.'_


	37. 37 First Adventure part 1

**Mount Justice  
** **October 23, 17:16 EDT**

Two days have passed since Cecilia's gift-giving attempt, and the Team was _still_ downcast and distraught. Not that she could entirely blame them, but she was beginning to grow tired of their constant moping. Even Wolf had lost whatever happiness he usually possessed. It was starting to affect her own mood negatively, and as a result she snapped at Dr. Jones more than once during her English lessons and was too unfocused to properly train with Green Lantern. It was getting ridiculous, and Cecilia was constantly stuck between bored out of her mind and contemplating deep, irrelevant thoughts, such as the meaning of life or why the past tense of "read" was still "read".

At the moment, she was determinedly in the former category. The Team were all sulking around, waiting for their turn with Black Canary for counseling. She desperately hoped that talking to the heroine would help them, like the few sessions she had did. However, for the time being, she was left to wander the too-familiar hallways aimlessly, occasionally playing with her rag doll, the only companion of hers that wasn't adamantly depressed because of a simulation error. Well, aside from Sphere, whom she had given up trying to find earlier.

 _'Joy...'_

She wasn't sure how long she had been strolling around the Cave, but by the time she had reached the hangar for the fourth time, Connor was marching towards where he kept his motorcycle. Despite the distance between them, Cecilia noticed his apparent anger, and she could almost see how his muscles were stiff and his movements jerky. Her eyebrows creased as she tried to figure out why talking to Black Canary hadn't helped him but seemed to make it worse. Not finding an answer, she shook her head and ran after him, determined that he shouldn't suffer alone. Maybe, just maybe, she would be able to help him.

"Connor!" Cecilia called out as she neared the teen. He was about to mount his bike, but at her voice he turned and snapped, "What do you want?"

Startled by his hostility, Cecilia came to a halt a few feet away, unsure of what to do. After a moment of stuttering, she managed to ask, "Where are you going?"

"Out," Connor replied shortly as Wolf approached, standing alongside the teen. Without thinking, Cecilia requested, "Can I come?"

After the words escaped her mouth, Cecilia tightly pressed her lips together to prevent any other careless comments from coming out. Her mind had heard the word "out", and she was growing weary of staying in the Cave day-in and day-out, especially with the gloomy atmosphere. But Connor's next words, if not entirely unexpected, sunk her heart, "No."

"Oh," she muttered, lowering her head and fiddling with her doll, embarrassed that she'd even asked. After all, what had she been expecting? He was obviously hurting, and she needed to respect that. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him look back at her and heard him sigh, then he said in a slightly softer voice, "There isn't enough room on the bike."

"That's not true," Cecilia pointed out, furrowing her eyebrows and looking up at him again. "You and M'gann both ride it to school."

Connor either didn't hear her or decided to ignore her as he prepared to leave, driving his bike closer to the door. Wolf and Cecilia both followed him, arriving just in time to hear him call out tersely, "Red Tornado, hangar door."

The ramp that led to the outside world slowly slid down at his request, but Sphere came out of seemingly nowhere and stood in his way. Connor forcefully waved his hand and pointed to the side, practically shouting, "Sphere, out of the way!"

But Sphere only began to shudder and beep in response, and for a second Cecilia was worried that something was wrong with it. Then the automaton opened up, unfolding into a red vehicle with two distinct seats and three tires, each with glowing blue lines weaving through them. All three beings looked at Sphere in shock before Wolf happily hopped into the first of the seats and Connor, after taking a moment to weigh his options, growled, "Fine, you can come."

 _'Really?'_ Cecilia thought, but she decided not to question it. Perhaps Sphere wanted her to come along, and that was why it transformed. Or maybe it was some other reason that changed his mind. Regardless, she was happy to be getting out of the Cave. She only hoped that Connor's mood would improve...

Quickly, she set her doll down near the wall of the tunnel and climbed onto Sphere, sitting down behind Connor (where she was least likely to disturb him) and wrapping her arms around him for stability. It crossed her mind that this would be her first time riding a motorbike, filling her mind with excitement and awe at what was to come. Although she couldn't see around Connor very well, she could feel inertia wanting to tug her back as Sphere suddenly shot forwards, over the ramp and then _off the ground_. Connor's voice, carried by the wind, cried in pleasant surprise, "Woah!"

Cecilia could not share his joy and gripped his torso tighter, remembering her ride in the Bioship. The only difference was that now, there was nothing to keep her from falling... She squeezed her eyes closed and pretended that they were on the ground, trying to find contentment in the breeze pulling at her hair and caressing her face. While Connor and Wolf seemed to be having the time of their lives, Cecilia was too busy praying that they wouldn't all plummet to their deaths.

And yet, after a few minutes of terror, she began to relax. Sphere and Connor had everything under control, and she trusted them. As time ticked by and nothing bad happened, she gradually opened her eyes, cautiously looking around and down. The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky beautiful shades of pink and orange, highlighting the clouds above and illuminating the rocky shore below. Cecilia gasped, amazed, "Wow..."

"You good?" Connor asked briefly, glancing over his shoulder at her. She smiled and nodded, adrenaline coursing through her veins and the beautiful scenery calming her mind. It was blissful in a way, and she couldn't remember ever experiencing anything like it before.

"Let's see what our boy can do!" Connor suddenly exclaimed, to which Wolf barked excitedly. Cecilia wondered what he meant before Sphere suddenly pitched upwards, making her heart stop momentarily and her eyes snap shut. In less than a second, Sphere had completed the loop, much to Wolf and Connor's exhilaration. For Connor's sake, Cecilia tried to keep her newfound terror concealed, smiling as the teen enthusiastically exclaimed, "Oh yeah!"

"Woah!" Connor cried as Sphere came to a sudden stop. Cecilia opened her eyes, startled, and peeked around the hulking teen to see another flying vehicle, this one resembling what she remember was called a car. Five people sat in it, four men and one woman. The largest man, in front, seemed at least twice Connor's size, with tanned skin and a lo of reddish hair. Behind him was the woman and a dark-skinned man with armor that had glowing green designs. The woman had pale-skin and black hair and was wearing a fancy, pink outfit. And behind them were seated the last two men, both with light skin. The one closest to Sphere had black hair and was wearing mainly black clothes with purple trimming, and the blonde boy beside him looked like something Dr. Jones once described was a cowboy.

"Return the New Genesphere and the rest of the technology you have stolen from New Genesis, human," the dark-skinned man ordered, his deep tone containing the beginnings of a threat. Cecilia shrunk back behind Connor, unsure of what to do. Connor, amazingly, didn't leap into battle, much to Cecilia's relief. Instead, he shouted, "Who are you? What are you-"

"Let's keep this simple. That," the behemoth of a man shouted back, pointing to Sphere, "belongs to us. Give. It. Back."

Cecilia felt Connor tense and hear Wolf begin to growl as Sphere beeped and whirled beneath them. Suddenly regretting coming along, Cecilia braced herself for her first real battle, feeling the tension mount. But just as the strangers stood up to fight, the dark-skinned man stopped them, holding up a small box that looked oddly similar to a remote, "Forever People, stand down! This one did not steal the New Genesphere! He saved it from the real thieves!"

"Apologies!" Behemoth-Man shouted, his scowl turning into a friendly grin. "The Forever People embrace you as a friend, ally, and worthy warrior."

"You're kidding, right?" Connor inquired skeptically. Wolf whined in agreement, and Cecilia risked another glance around her friend. The strangers had relaxed, and the dark-skinned man called back invitingly, "Come, there is much to discuss."

"So, they're not going to try to kill us?" Cecilia questioned quietly as the strangers began to ride away. Sphere followed them obediently, and Connor could only shrug in response, curious, "I guess not."

 _'Thank goodness!'_

* * *

 **A/N - So due to the mixed reviews I've been getting about who Cecilia should be paired with, I want to know your opinion. I have a poll on Quotev, but doesn't seem to like links to other sites, and I don't want to make one on here. So I'd like to know what you think in the comments. Thanks!**

 **My thanks goes to _Nightcat_ , _ZabuzasGirl_ , and _ReginaRose_ for reviewing!**

 **To _Nightcat_ : Believe it or not, most of those are planned in some way or fashion. :) And here is the latest chapter! Now we're all caught up on what I have. Hope you enjoy!**


	38. 38 First Adventure part 2

(Chapter Published March 31, 2017.)

"Forever People?" Connor asked as they followed the newcomers, who were in the midst of trying to explain who they were and why they were there. Cecilia still wasn't sure what to make of them, but she did trust Connor's judgement, and these people did seem friendly, if a bit odd. Sphere also seemed to trust them, so they couldn't be too bad...

"We're young gods," the behemoth, red-haired man explained, his voice loud and strong. "New gods."

Never mind, they couldn't be all that _good_ , either, if they referred to themselves as gods. As far as Cecilia was concerned, there was only one God, _'And I'm fairly certain that His clothing doesn't have multicolored, neon lines highlighting it.'_

"Right..." Connor replied doubtfully as Cecilia clamped her mouth shut, trying to mentally convince herself that they didn't refer to themselves as beings to be worshipped and it was all a misunderstanding. The blonde cowboy guy tipped his hat, grinning as he introduced himself, "They call me Serifan."

"I'm Dreamer," the black-haired woman added, gesturing to herself and then to the darkly-dressed man and the dark-skinned man, respectively. "This is Moonrider and our leader, Vykin."

"Hm," Behemoth hummed, "and I am named for an animal that does not exist on this world." The redhead thought for a moment before snapping his fingers with a clever smirk, "But you may call me... Wolf."

Wolf - the actual wolf - growled as Connor explained somewhat defensively, "This is Wolf."

"Ah," the newcomer muttered, tilting his head to the side thoughtfully. "Bear, then. Yeah, Bear is even better!"

"I'm Con-" Connor cut himself off suddenly, and Cecilia couldn't figure out why until he corrected himself, "Superboy. And this is, uh, Lantern."

 _'So we're not supposed to let them know our names, even though they're probably on our side?'_ Cecilia wondered, smiling at the newcomers in an attempt to play along, "White Lantern, actually. It is nice to meet you."

"This is Mother Box, the living computer," Vykin finished up the introductions, holding up his small, remote-like box, which gave a small _ding_ as a greeting. "She has tracked technology stolen from our homeworld, New Genesis. She has found our Rescue drill... there."

Cecilia peered around Connor to catch a glimpse of where they were heading and noticed many tall, rectangular pillars silhouetted against the fading pale glow of the already-set sun. The structures had many lights shining from their sides, like lanterns hung to welcome guests. The twelve-year-old hugged Connor more tightly as they approached what was becoming increasingly recognizable as a city, complete with the intersecting lines of black rock, or asphalt, that was also in Happy Harbor. As they flew above the city, just above the tall towers, the Roman could make out a few little vehicles scurrying along the roads like ants, so small from this height that she imagined it would be quite easy to crush them.

Mother Box dinged again, causing Cecilia to focus back on the situation as both Connor and the Forever People circled around a large gap in the buildings. Below them, nestled between the streets, was a square block of dirt with a deep hole drilled in the middle and some men gathered around it. Vykin translated for Mother Box, "It is beneath us. Eighteen meters underground."

"That's a construction site," Connor quipped, staring at the scene below. "Perfect cover for drilling, especially with the federal reserve conveniently located across the street."

Everyone, including Cecilia, gave him a blank look. The Roman knew both the word "federal" and "reserve", so she could deduce that the government used the indicated building to store something, but she had no idea what. The Forever People didn't seem to understand either, so Connor sighed and explained in an impatient tone, "The government keeps money there."

"It's a heist!" Serifan exclaimed, standing up and prepping his guns, an excited smile on his youthful face. "C'mon, partners! Let's ride in there, guns ablazin, and round up 'em outlaws!"

"He's... watched a lot of earth Westerns," Dreamer explained Serifan's eccentric behavior apologetically. Personally, Cecilia thought it was rather funny, at least it would have been if everyone else wasn't acting so seriously. Connor grunted and replied wisely, "Yeah, well... There's a time to go in strong, and a time to go in smart."

"This is your world, Superboy. We shall follow your lead," Vykin told the sixteen-year-old, indicating that he would be coming up with a plan of action. Cecilia wasn't accustomed to dealing with strangers, so she gladly let Connor take control of the situation. Besides, it looked like they would have to journey underground, and despite the fact that she was currently living in a hollowed-out mountain, the Roman girl wasn't thrilled to jump into a giant hole of unknown depth and probably filled with hostile strangers. No, she was perfectly content above ground... just maybe a little closer to it.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Connor announced, his voice at once both compelling and quiet. "Cecilia, you're going to stay here with Sphere, um, as a lookout. Warn us if anything starts to go wrong above ground. Got it?"

Mentally rejoicing that she wouldn't have to battle anyone underground, the twelve-year-old bounced her head up and down in confirmation. Connor relaxed slightly at this before turning to the others, "The rest of us will take out those guards and find out exactly what we're up against."

Vykin nodded respectfully, silently showing that the Forever People agreed to and would follow the teenager's plan. And with that affirmation, the eight of them landed their two vehicles out of sight of the construction site and parted ways, Connor and Wolf leading the Forever People towards the bad guys and Sphere flying Cecilia high into the sky above them. The Roman girl was terrified of being so far up without another person, and her iron grip on Sphere's handlebars proved it, but she forced herself to keep watch for any potential complications to Connor's plan. It was her one job, after all, and even though heights are even more horrifying when looking down, she knew that Sphere wouldn't let her fall.

If only that knowledge would stop her heart from jumping at every downward glance...

To distract herself, Cecilia kept her gaze focused on her friends - or really Wolf, since the huge, white animal was the easiest to spot in the dark. They were stealthily sneaking closer to the construction site, using the shadows to hide from the three grunts guarding the giant hole. She couldn't make out much, and at one point she lost sight of the group completely, but after a few minutes she noticed what looked like an old lady wander out towards the guards, who all whipped around and pointed some metallic object that Cecilia had yet to learn at her. For a moment, the Roman feared for the old woman's life, but the guards quickly lowered their weapons, just in time for one of the Forever People - Moonrider, she thought - to blast two of them with bolts of blue light. The only remaining guard pointed the unknown object first at Moonrider, then back at the old woman as she morphed into Dreamer. The guard then proceeded to smash the object into his own face, oddly enough, but the fact that Vykin seemed to be standing behind him might have had something to do with it. _'Wow, the Forever People are fairly impressive.'_

Connor, Wolf, Serifan, and Bear stepped out of the shadows and regrouped with everyone, then they proceeded to jump into the hole.

From that point on, things got more than a little boring. Cecilia had always imagined missions as being action-packed and exciting, if not always fun. But as the seconds stretched into minutes and her patience dwindled, she began to reconsider this assumption. She tried multiple ways to keep boredom at bay: watching the unconscious guards, observing the very few stars in the night sky, practicing her counting... Nothing worked. Eventually, she settled on humming the tune of a song her father liked to play in Rome. It was a simple melody of about four notes, but it was very dear to her heart because of its connection to her family.

After a while, Sphere joined in, nearly causing her to jump off of the flying vehicle in fear, hand over her heart. After a few heavy breaths, Cecilia whisper-shouted, "What was that for?! Don't scare me like that!"

A loud rumbling almost drowned out Sphere's apologetic whirring, and Cecilia glanced down in panic only to see a giant, pointy, spinning thing grow out of the ground. Not too far away was Connor, Wolf, and the Forever People, all of whom were staring at the thing in what was probably either horror or hostility. The thing fully emerged and revealed that it was the front end of a red and yellow vehicle. Following the vehicle was a woman with really long hair and several men with what Cecilia could only describe as black armor on their chest with red tubes and a circle on the front. Cecilia furrowed her eyebrows and asked her companion, "Did you see them come back?"

Sphere beeped once, signaling a "no," and then without much warning proceeded to nosedive towards the battle. Cecilia let out a small shriek as her stomach tried to climb into her throat and she gripped Sphere's handlebars for dear life. However, she quickly altered her fearful scream into a war cry as Sphere approached the ground, leveling out and firing the same blue light that Moonrider did earlier. The men and woman leapt out of the way, and Sphere began circling around the construction site to distract them from Connor, Wolf, and the Forever People. With the wind in her hair and the bad guys properly confused, Cecilia was really beginning to enjoy herself.

That was, until the men started shooting glowing, red disks at them, which obviously wasn't good. Then a giant - like, really, really huge - blue and gold automaton with glowing eyes appeared _out of nowhere_ and just waltzed right into the midst of everything. It was enough to make Cecilia's eyes nearly pop out of her head as she shouted hysterically to no one in particular, "WHAT IS THAT?"

In response, Sphere belted out several unintelligible beeps and whirs that the Roman girl couldn't even begin to guess the meaning of, so she changed her question, "Is it on our side?!"

Two beeps met her ears, and she sighed in relief. There was no way they could lose with such a large automaton on their side!

The bad guys' attention quickly turned to the ginormous robot, and Cecilia imagined that she could see the panic on their faces. A couple of them decided to punch the ground with their armor, but whatever effect that was supposed to have didn't do anything to slow the automaton's advance. It took a couple more steps before stopping and shooting beams of light - lasers, she thought they were called - out of its eyes, causing the armor of two men to vanish without hurting them at all. Then two more men, one of which was kind of big and ugly, fired more red disks at the robot, but it just deflected them with a wave of its hand. With its other hand, it sent out what looked like pulses of energy that sent everyone else flying but the woman, who seemed to have found whips made of fire. _'The future must have everything!'_

The woman tried to whip the robot, aiming for its face, but it caught the flames and used its lasers to destroy her weapon. Then with another effortless wave of its hand, she was also thrown across the construction site.

A large circle of bright light blinked into existence next to the men, allowing them to retreat, as if walking through a doorway. The woman, with a cry of "Ugly, wait!" tried to run after them, but a second later she fell to the ground, bound by ropes. With one final act, the automaton created another circle of bright light under the vehicle with the pointy front, engulfing it. Then the robot glowed even brighter and shrunk, dividing into five parts, each morphing into one of the Forever People. As Sphere flew down to join them, landing just behind Connor and Wolf, Cecilia felt like her mind had exploded as she tried to comprehend everything that just happened.

"What was that?" Connor demanded, appearing just as surprised as Cecilia was. She shakily climbed off of Sphere and looked expectantly at the Forever People, also wanting the answer to that question. It was Dreamer who replied calmly, "Infinity-Man. We merged to become part of the Source and greater than the sum of our parts."

"Glad my team's not that close," Connor remarked, crossing his arms. Bear nodded in understanding, "Lower beings tend to fear intimacy."

"Hey!" Cecilia protested, feeling insulted on behalf of humankind. Bear smiled at her apologetically, "I meant no offense."

The Roman gave the behemoth one last look before focusing on Vykin as he steered the discussion back towards the current problem, "None of the makes any sense. How are these humans acquiring technology from both New Genesis and Apokolips?"

In response, everyone's gaze turned towards the captured woman with really long hair. She was staring a the ground, but she must have sensed that the conversation now included herself because she raised her head enough to glare resentfully, "I'm not talkin'."

"You were not asked," Dreamer replied curtly, pressing her fingers against her temples until her eyes glowed pink. The woman grimaced, as if she was uncomfortable, as a steam-like cloud wafted out of her head and accumulated beside her, eventually revealing a horribly disfigured, hooded figure with sickly skin and evil eyes, chuckling creepily. An involuntary shiver raced down Cecilia's spine, and she quietly stepped behind Connor and Wolf. The Forever People seemed shocked, which frightened the twelve-year-old, and Dreamer gasped vaguely, "Dasaad..."

 _'This has officially been the weirdest day of my life,'_ Cecilia decided firmly. _'And I have no idea what's going on.'_

"Look," Connor spoke up, addressing Dreamer, "I've been remarkably patient - y'know, for me. What is going on?!"

Vykin and Dreamer exchanged glances, with Vykin nodding in approval. Then Dreamer held her fingers to her temples again and explained as images of two planets - one fiery red and the other watery blue - began to appear in front of them, as if in a dream, "The New Gods come from two worlds at war. Those of us from New Genesis are gods of life, freedom, and the Source. Our enemies are of Apokolips, the gods of antilife, slavery, and degradation. This," the images faded, and Cecilia looked again at the hooded figure, "is Dasaad, god scientist and chief torturer of Apokolips. His experiments are pure evil, his works abominations, his master..."

"Unspeakable...," Dasaad finished, laughing softly and smiling menacingly. Again, Cecilia spasmed awkwardly as a chill shook her spine. Could he actually hear them? Dasaad dissipated in smoke as Dreamer ended the vision. The woman, still staring at where Dasaad once stood, admitted, "He is seriously creepy."

"Then why are you working with him?" Cecilia asked her bluntly, using her best condescending voice (because frankly, anyone dumb enough to team up with a guy that clearly evil deserved it). The woman gave her an equally criticizing look, "Look, kid, money is money, and Intergang doesn't care where it comes from."

 _'That's kind of sad,'_ Cecilia thought, wondering how people could say such things and mean them. Of course, people did the same thing back in Rome, but one would think that people would improve over time. _'But again, I'm wrong.'_

She heard a high-pitched wailing in the distance, growing closer by the second, and turned to Connor for an explanation. He frowned, "Police. They'll take care of her. For now, let's find Ugly."

* * *

 **A/N - Surprise, I'm not dead! Apparently, I actually have a life, and it decided that this month was the perfect time to drag me away from my regular stress-reliever (writing) and have a metaphorical dodgeball tournament with various responsibilities. *sigh* Fun times... Not. Anyway, I made this chapter extra long to compensate, and I wrote most of it in the past two hours. So here you go! Enjoy! Comment! At this point, just do whatever! Life has been insane, so this is my weekend to go insane so that my sanity can return by Monday, so... I didn't really have a point with that...**

 **Also, I have fallen behind on my Star Trek fanfic (which I am currently seriously revising), and April is another NaNoWriMo month, so I won't be updating this again until May. At least. Sorry! Just know that I'm not abandoning it! Have a blessed day!**


	39. 39 First Adventure part 3

(Chapter published April 29, 2017.)

After flying away from the scene and following Mother Box's instructions, the group finally reached their destination: a sturdy, stone building with light-colored, three-wheeled vehicles that looked like a cross between a bird and the Bioship. The building was oddly shaped; instead of four straight walls, its two side walls were slanted, while its front side seemed to have a giant metal curtain instead of a single small door (which was off to the right). All of these observations were difficult to make, however, because it was so late in the night that even the stars seemed weary and the crickets were playing through the last of their chirping concerto. Mother Box added to the music with a melodic note of her own. Vykin translated, "Mother Box says there's a large cache of Apokoliptic technology inside."

Cecilia watched as Connor squinted his eyes at the building for a few long seconds, then he reported, "Infrared vision shows no heat signatures. Even so... it's better to be safe than sorry. Dreamer, disguise us as the guards back at the construction site. I'll check for heat signatures again once we're inside."

Dreamer nodded and raised her fingers to her temples, and soon everyone was invisible except for Connor and Dreamer, who looked exactly like two of the three guards they had defeated earlier. Connor swiftly glanced at everyone to make sure that they were ready, although Cecilia wasn't entirely sure if he could see them, before he turned to Dreamer and added, "White Lantern will stay here as lookout."

Cecilia wasn't sure if she was again glad to be exempted from the potential fight or a bit disappointed this time. After all, with the Forever People's Infinity-Man, she doubted that the bad guys stood even a slight chance. Still, she didn't exactly stand a chance, either, so she didn't protest as Connor, Dreamer, and presumably everyone else made their way towards the building. _'At least I still have Sphere for company.'_

The twelve-year-old was about to try to start a conversation with the flying vehicle when, not even a minute after Connor, Wolf, and the Forever People entered the stone building, she imagined that she heard the distinct s _hink!_ of weapons - like the chest-mounted red circle things that Intergang was using earlier. Sphere beeped nervously, indicating that the noise wasn't just in Cecilia's mind. She anxiously glanced around, wondering where the noise was coming from before realizing that its origins must be in the stone building - and considering that stone was decently sound-proof and she was a good distance away, the battle must be pretty intense. She was suddenly thankful that she had stayed outside - especially when Connor was jettisoned out of the building, crashing into the ground right in front of Sphere and Cecilia and leaving a Superbly-Shaped hole in the iron curtain. Horrified, Cecilia helped Connor to his feet as Wolf leapt out of the hole seconds later, followed by a red Infinity-Man who effortlessly ripped the curtain in two, making the most horrible screeching noise Cecilia had ever heard. Terrified, she shouted, "Where's the Forever People?"

Connor's silence answered her question, and Cecilia wondered for a moment about what could have possibly happened in such little time to make such nice people betray them. But as Infinity-Man marched closer, Connor barked at her, "Find somewhere to hide and stay out of the way!"

Cecilia didn't need to be told twice and hurriedly scampered off, taking shelter behind the nearest Bioship-bird hybrid, which she suddenly remembered was called an airplane. A few seconds later, Sphere - now returned to its normal shape - rolled past Cecilia's hiding spot, likely fleeing from the onslaught. _'First the Forever People turn on us, then Sphere abandons us? None of this makes any sense! Maybe Sphere is going to get help?'_

Whatever the case, the loud bangs and scraping noises captured and intensified both the Roman girl's dread and curiosity, and she found herself peering out from behind the plane in an attempt to see what was going on. Both Wolf and Connor were expertly but narrowly dodging Infinity-Man's attacks and landing a few of their own, but nothing they did seemed to have much of an effect. Then the red giant finally landed a blow on Connor just as the teenager bounded into the air, sending him flying directly towards Cecilia's hiding spot. She leapt away from the tail of the airplane as it make contact with Connor's body, denting severely. Then she heard a whimper, meaning that Wolf had also been struck, and she was prevailed upon by her concern to take a quick peek at the fight again. She couldn't see Wolf from he position, but she did see Connor rip the wing off of the airplane and hurl it towards Infinity-Man like a disk. Unfortunately, Infinity-Man made short work of the projectile with his laser eyes, resulting in a thunderous explosion of smoke and debris.

The next thing Cecilia knew, Infinity-Man's hand was glowing, and then the airplane she was hidden behind began to glow as well. She scrambled away from it as it started to rise into the air, precariously hovering several feet above Connor and Wolf, who was standing beside the teenager.

"No!" Cecilia shouted, instinctively raising both of her arms and reaching out for that elusive dancing energy. Time seemed to still and her heart fell when she realized that there was very little energy to control. The glowing airplane began to fall, and it was then that two critical pieces of information made themselves apparent to the twelve-year-old. Firstly, the majority of the energy was concentrated around the glowing airplane and Infinity-Man's glowing hand. Secondly, the energy that she's been harvesting all this time was _light_ energy - literally just the light used to illuminate her surroundings. The revelation almost distracted her from what she was doing, but her mind was already committed to the action and she drew upon what light that she could and instantaneously created a protective dome around her friends mere nanoseconds before the airplane smashed into the ground. For a moment, Cecilia feared that she was too late, but the airplane was soon flung to the side, revealing a blinding but intact bunker. The Roman girl dissolved the light and noted with immense relief that both Connor and Wolf were still standing.

Unfortunately, the sheer brightness of the sudden shelter seemed to have dazed them, and while Connor was quickly attempting to readjust his eyes, Infinity-Man simply plucked the teenager from the ground and began to squeeze, causing Connor to start writhing and groaning. Cecilia, feeling confident after using her powers with debatable success, growled, "Prohibere! Let him go!"

To emphasize her point, Cecilia tried to attack Infinity-Man from a distance with more light constructs, but it was difficult to gather enough light to conjure something bigger than a pomegranate, but she launched them at the red giant all the same. The force of her attacks was surprisingly powerful, but not enough to make him release Connor. When Wolf fully recovered from nearly being blinded, the canine joined the charge by leaping at Infinity-Man, who batted the white wolf out of the air and then punched Connor into the ground. Then the red giant lifted both of his immense arms high into the air, preparing to deliver the final blow. A bead of sweat dripped down Cecilia's forehead as she intensified her strikes, panic and fear causing her light constructs to become more erratic and uncontrollable and ineffectual - meaning that even if she had enough light to create another protective dome, she wouldn't have been able to actually form one. Terror gripped her heart, and she despaired, _'This is the end. Connor is going to die.'_

And then Infinity-Man stood up, his hands falling to his sides and his red coloration slowly melting back into its original gold and blue. Shocked, Cecilia stopped attacking the giant altogether, her mouth agape as she tried to find an explanation for the sudden change in allegiance. Then she noticed Sphere perched on top of Infinity-Man's head like some sort of winged helmet, beeping what might have been a plan as handlebars appeared, sticking up like a feather. Cecilia watched in numb confusion as Connor smiled up at it, "Sphere, you're beautiful!"

Then, with one jump, Connor landed on Infinity-Man's head and _began to steer him like a large, weaponized bicycle_. Cecilia's brain was having trouble keeping up with what exactly just happened, but upon catching sight of Intergang charging forward with Apokoliptic weapons, she decided that she could find out later and made sure that Infinity-Man was well-positioned between her and the bad guys.

From that point on, it was a pretty short fight. As much as Intergang tried to put up a fight, Infinity-Man overwhelmed them with a couple of lasers, humiliated their leader Ugly by tossing him into the air and blasting the armor off of him, and then depositing him onto a pile of similarly weaponless minions. A bright light just behind Ugly, just like the circular light that they used to escape from the construction site earlier. Dasaad himself was the one fleeing the battle, and just before he left he shouted something that Cecilia couldn't hear and hurled something into the air. Infinity-Man, naturally, used his laser eyes to shoot it, which only made it explode in a truly brilliant flash of light. Cecilia instinctively created a wall to protect herself from the growing blast, which rocketed past her with a violent BOOM!

For a few seconds after the blast, Cecilia stayed where she was, hardly daring to believe that the battle was over so abruptly. But as she dissipated her wall, that very conclusion was confirmed; everyone was sprawled out on the now smoking ground, dazed and hurt but alive. A sigh of relief escaped her lips, and a victorious feeling welled up inside her despite the fact that a majority of the surrounding area was completely destroyed and oozing smoke. The Roman girl felt so elated that she giggled happily to herself, downright giddy that they all actually managed to survive. She couldn't help it - there were simply too many times that she just knew that they were going to die, and yet there they all were.

Quelling her victory for the moment, Cecilia busied herself in making sure that no one was seriously injured and helping them to their feet. One by one, she made sure that the Forever People would fully recover from their ordeal. She was just finishing up with Serifan when Connor's concerned voice distracted her, "She's... hurt."

 _'Who, Dreamer?'_ Cecilia wondered, glancing towards Connor and instead spotting Sphere more or less reduced to a ball of red, mangled metal and bleeding a black substance. The twelve-year-old gasped and ran over to see if there was anything she could do to help. Connor and Vykin were already attending to it - her - and while the Forever People's leader didn't offer any words of encouragement or instruction, he did offer help, "The damage may be beyond repair. Mother Box will try."

 _'I'm not sure what he's doing, Lord, but please let this work!'_ Cecilia prayed urgently as Vykin gently placed Mother Box on Sphere's wrecked frame. Mother Box gave off a soft _ding_ , and Sphere thankfully began to shudder and fold back into the shape of a sphere, surprising but delighting both Cecilia and Connor. The twelve-year-old glanced anxiously at the dark=skinned man, "Sphere will heal, correct?"

"The healing process has begun," Vykin confirmed. "It will be completed on New Genesis."

"I'm sorry, what?" Connor demanded, turning to face the man with shock. Viking remained silent - not even his weary expression changed. As the rest of the Forever People walked over to join them, Dreamer stated patiently, "We thank you both for your help, Superboy and White Lantern, but we must take the New Genesphere home now."

"No! No way!" Connor protested earnestly, looking a bit like he had been betrayed. Cecilia also felt like this was kind of a stab in the back, but the Forever People were not to be denied, and Serifan countered, "Why should we leave her with you? To us, she lives! But to you, she's merely technology."

"That's not true!" Cecilia exclaimed, afraid that they were going to take Sphere away on a baseless claim while they attacked their friendship. Cecilia still remembered all of the fond memories she had pulling pranks on Wally with Sphere's help - she couldn't just let that slide by.

"No, it's not like that!" replied Connor at the same time, still determined to prevent them from taking one of his friends away.

"Then what is it like?" Bear challenged, crossing his arms decisively. If it were up to Cecilia, the conversation would have ended there solely because Bear's glare was unbelievably intimidating.

"We bonded, okay?!" Connor shouted, pointing his finger at Sphere, who hadn't made a single sound to indicate where she would prefer to stay. Bear and Serifan exchanged satisfied looks while Vykin, Dreamer, and Moonrider simply smiled, the leader of the group agreeing, "In fact, it has. You may keep her."

"Thank you!" Cecilia exclaimed gratefully, smiling broadly as Vykin and Connor shook hands like old friends. Bear chuckled, "Do not mention it, White Lantern. Sphere desires to remain here just as much as you desire to keep her."

"Is she well enough to carry us home?" the twelve-year-old asked, concerned. Moonrider nodded, still smiling faintly, "Yes, but try not to strain her."

"Then I think it's time we headed home," Connor remarked. Admittedly, Cecilia was a bit sad to see the Forever People leave, but at the same time all of the excitement had exhausted her, so they all quickly exchanged short but sincere farewells before parting ways and heading home.

* * *

Translations

1\. Prohibere!  
Latin for "Stop!"

* * *

 **A/N - Hello, everyone! I'm back early! Also, I apologize for not responding to any of the reviews in the last chapter. I didn't really have time, although that was so long ago that I can't specifically remember why I didn't have time. In fact, I didn't even have time to write a new Author's Note at the bottom so that you wouldn't get confused when I mentioned a Star Trek fan fiction that isn't actually on this site and probably hasn't ever been mentioned before on here. Oh well. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Thanks to _Nightcat_ , _IbeWildBella_ , _Anna_ , _silver. rayn_ _123_ , and _Jen Rock_ for commenting on Chapter 37 and _Awesomeness3013_ and _Guest_ for commenting on Chapter 38. You guys are amazing!**

 **To _Nightcat_ : Yep, the new chapters are coming! Haha, actually I have a giant list of random things the Team can do if I ever need a filler chapter and another list of things I want to work into the plot, plus a loose timeline for what I know will be in the plot. :) Well, that's strange. When I tested it out as a guest it still worked. Your vote is noted, and yes I agree that having that many people vote for Kaldur is really strange, although I think that I can see what they're getting at. Well, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **To _Anna_ : Thanks for your input! I'll keep a note of that. :D**

 **To _Guest_ : Cecilia has the ability to manipulate the light around her into solid objects made of light, as well as a variety of other things that she hasn't discovered yet. **


	40. 40 First Adventure Conclusion

The entire ride back to Mount Justice was filled with Cecilia's excited retelling of various parts of the story, Connor's explanation of events that she missed (like Infinity-Man being hijacked by something evidently called a Father Box), and Wolf's occasional growl of annoyance when it became obvious that Cecilia wasn't going to shut up anytime soon. Towards the end of their ride, she got around to reliving her own small part in the battle, "And did you see the shield that I made to protect you? I didn't know that I could do that! It was larger than anything else I've ever made!"

Connor sighed, clearly taking a moment to think about his next words before replying evenly, "It was pretty impressive, but a little warning would have been nice."

Cecilia was too excited to feel much shame in her mistake, but she promised all the same, "I will warn you next time."

"Good," said Connor with a nod. For a few more minutes, Cecilia continued to blabber on about the battle and was only silenced once she caught sight of Mount Justice. Sphere smoothly descended to the forest, and after Connor requested the hangar door to be opened, Sphere carried them all inside. As the trio quickly dismounted, Cecilia saw a flash of yellow and red in her peripheral vision just before Wally's voice asked, "Dude, where have you guys been?!"

Cecilia looked around and saw the speedster standing a few feet away with his hands sticking out as if they were caught in the middle of an exaggerated shrug. A few feet behind him was Martian Manhunter, who must have been in the hangar to tend to M'gann's Bioship. The green-skinned martian's red eyes showed no emotion as he chastised firmly, "You should not have run away like you did, especially without telling anyone where you were going. Both of you should have known better."

"Yeah, you three have been gone for hours," Robin stated, running into the hangar. He must have heard the conversation from the hallway. Wolf, with no reason to stick around, left the room just as the rest of the Team entered. None of them seemed particularly worried, but they were curious. Artemis pointed to Sphere, who was still in her vehicle mode, and remarked with some skepticism, "Is that Sphere?"

"Cool!" Wally exclaimed before either Connor or Cecilia could respond. "I'm going to call it... the Super-Cycle! Dibs on the next ride!"

"The Super-Cycle?" Artemis questioned, crossing her arms.

Wally shrugged, still smiling, "Sure. Batman has the Batmobile, Superboy should have the Super-Cycle. It makes sense."

Artemis only responded with a half-hearted eye-roll while the Kaldur, getting the conversation back on track, inquired, "Connor, Cecilia, what happened?"

"Ask Cecilia. She'll be happy to catch you up," Connor suggested as he started walking out of the hangar, his gaze fixed ahead in a way that made him seem nigh unstoppable. "In the meantime, there's something I need to take care of."

And with that, the ebony-haired teen left the Team to the mercy of Cecilia's excitement. Fortunately, the teenagers were genuinely interested in her story, and most of her enthusiasm had died down on the long trip back home, so it was mildly entertaining for them to listen to the twelve-year-old recount the entire story (complete with sound effects and hand motions), and then retell it again when Batman, Captain Marvel, and Red Tornado arrived. At the conclusion of her story, Batman seemed deep in thought, only remarking, "Her account of events matches Connor's."

Then the adults, like usual, engaged themselves in a discussion that the teenagers were not formally invited in on. So the teenagers, like usual, made themselves welcome elsewhere - meaning that M'gann had made some cookies while Connor and Cecilia were away. So they all seated themselves in the living room and ate their treats in silence, being careful to set some aside for Connor. Cecilia was intrigued by the design of these cookies; they were decorated in an orange paste in the shape of a kind of grooved fruit, and each one had a black face on it, with triangular eyes and a crooked smile. She glanced at M'gann and questioned, "What are these?"

"They're called jack-o-lanterns," M'gann explained enthusiastically. "It's something people do in preparation for an earth custom named 'Halloween.'"

"And, um, what is Halloween?" Cecilia prompted, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

Wally almost choked on his cookie, "You haven't heard of Halloween?! I thought that that holiday was ancient!"

"That doesn't mean that the Romans knew about it," Robin pointed out. "And since we've never told her, then you can't act surprised that she doesn't know."

Wally shrugged, "I've never paid much attention in History-"

"The point is," Artemis interrupted, "that on Halloween people get to dress up and walk from door to door, collecting candy and scaring children. Some people also like to decorate their homes with fake cobwebs, spiders, skeletons, and stuff like that."

To Cecilia, the only part of that that sounded even remotely fun was collecting candy, so she was having a difficult time deciding what, exactly, made Halloween so appealing. In her day, skeletons weren't house decorations, and neither were they particularly pleasant. Even now, she hated spiders, and cobwebs made her skin crawl. So aside from candy, what was the point? It didn't seem to have any religious appeal and probably didn't have any formal feasts, which made it entirely unlike the majority of festivals in Rome and therefore a fairly alien concept. She didn't voice her questions, however, and simply spent the rest of the night pondering over the holiday's purpose, what she should dress as, and what kind of candy she wanted.

* * *

 **A/N - Sorry for the late post! I completely forgot that I was publishing this on here as well. I don't have time to respond to reviews right now or check for typos, but I will tomorrow!**


	41. 41 The Costume Draft 2

**Mount Justice**

 **October 23, 9:34 EDT**

The next day, Cecilia woke up later than usual and found that, aside from Red Tornado, she was alone in the Cave. According to the android, the Team was enjoying the surprisingly warm weather by swimming in the ocean, taking advantage of the last bit of warmth for the year before winter comes. Although Red Tornado told her that she was welcome to join them, Cecilia declined, stating that she had to study her English with Dr. Jones, to which the android replied that she was free to relax today because of the events of yesterday night. The fact that Cecilia had a free day brought a smile to her face, but all the same she didn't particularly want to swim. The problem was that, without the older teenagers, she didn't really know what to do.

For a while, Cecilia entertained herself with her rag doll, but once that became boring her mind returned to the previous night's discussion on Halloween. She had given up trying to make sense of the holiday on her own and decided to just celebrate it anyway, but for that she would apparently need a costume.

She wasn't sure what kind of costume she would need, so the twelve-year-old settled on making some sort of temporary disguise until the others returned and could help her out. This decision led to an hour of searching and ultimately ended with Cecilia trying to weave cloak out of bed sheets, toilet paper, string, Cheerios, and soap, which she soon discovered was pretty much impossible. Leaving her failed project on the sofa in the living room, she searched for more suitable items to create a costume from...

... and soon found Robin's superhero costume.

Really, she found everyone's costumes (except for M'gann's and Artemis's). They were all in what she would later understand was the boys' locker room. What made Robin's costume stick out was the fact that his had a cape. Now, Cecilia had never worn a cape before, and she was suddenly very interested in finding out what it felt like to wear one. She's worn a _paenula_ , or a cheap protective cloak, before, but never a fancy cape like the senators or priests or other wealthy Romans had. The Roman girl stared at the black and yellow cape for a few minutes, sorely tempted to don it for a few minutes, just to see what it felt like...

 _'No, that would be stealing, even if only for a few minutes. I can't wear it without permission,'_ she chided herself, turning to leave. But something within her wouldn't let her leave the topic alone, and she glanced at the cape again. It was hanging off of one of the lockers, innocently perched like a sleeping bat. The twelve-year-old furrowed her eyebrows and tapped her chin. Surely no one would notice if she _did_ take it and put it back before the others returned, right?

Before she fully realized what she was doing, the cape was fastened around her neck. The weight hanging off of her shoulders was odd, and at first she didn't understand what the big deal was with capes. Then she curiously walked around, letting the ankle-length cape swish behind her, and the magic began. Smiling, Cecilia walked around some more, allowing the cape to fully billow out behind her. She was unsure of what exactly was happening, but something about having a cape catching the wind like a sail made her feel... empowered, confident. Excited now, she ran around the locker room, imitating various people who she knew wore capes: first Emperor Claudius lounging on a bench, then a random soldier fighting a war, then Superman standing by heroically, and finally Batman crouched on the edge of a roof (in this case, the bench), overlooking a tiny street below. Cecilia smiled to herself, _'I want a cape with my costume.'_

And this made the twelve-year-old remember that she still needed to revise her current superhero costume. Hanging the cape back on the locker, Cecilia all but sprinted back to her room and found the costume's draft, quickly getting to work. After hours of adding details and erasing things and recoloring everything, Cecilia held up her artwork and smiled. _'This is it. This is the one.'_

* * *

 **A/N - Okay, I'm back! I know that I didn't include a description of her superhero costume in this chapter, but I will include one in a later chapter. For now, you can visit my story on Quotev to look at it. The picture is at the top of this same chapter, and the story is under the same name. You don't have to look at it, but I thought** **that I should offer it. Again, a description will be posted later.**

 **Anyway, I promised to** **respond to reviews, so I'm responding to reviews! Thanks to _Guest 1_** **,** **_Awesomeness3013_** **, _LifeRox3_ , _Shana_ , _Locke_ , _Guest 2_** **, and I'm assuming _Guest 3. _ There were a lot of Guests, which makes me really happy, but at the same time I have no idea if two Guests are the same person or not. :)**

 **To _Guest 1_ : I can see why you want me to pair her with another OC. I've read some stories where I also thought that this was a terrible idea, and while I can't speak for your own opinions, I have also come across that rare fanfic where I actually wanted it to happen. Pairing people is tricky because sometimes throwing in another OC can ruin the momentum of the plot or destroy it entirely. And yet pairing someone with a canon character can destroy that character, which is an even bigger crime. I'm going to try the best I can with this, which is why I'm saving the romance until much later, but please let me know if I start doing a horrible job.**

 **To _Shana_ : I appreciate the story idea, but there's two problems: (1) I haven't watched many of those movies because, while the action and plot are fantastic, I am unfortunately at the age where I understand all of the dirty things in there and that frankly makes me want to erase my memories. (2) I am not looking for another story to write, and even if I was, I wouldn't be able to write it with all of the passion that you have for the idea. It truly is a good idea, so to write it without passion would be, in my opinion, a crime, and it would also lead to slow update and lack of interest in the story. I understand that you have thought this through and are sending the idea to a lot of people, and I wish you luck with that, but here's my idea: you need to write this. That might be difficult or initiating, but you should. You know what you want and you have it planned out, plus you have the passion needed to write it. Whatever you choose, I wish you luck!**

 **To _Locke_ : I'm glad you reviewed, because I've had this and that last chapter up on Quotev for a few days. I didn't have time to post them on here initially, and then I forgot to do it altogether. Also, I like you name. :) I'm glad you are enjoying this!**

 **To _Guest 2_ : I'm just going to assume that whoever is sending me all those links is the same person. Thanks for the help! I'm always looking for more stories to read, but I've already read most of those and I'd really rather you post a review along the lines of "Hey, you aren't doing this correctly" or "Good job setting up that," but any review is honestly appreciated and I'll try to check out the stories that I haven't read yet. As for the ages, Robin is biologically a year or two older than her, so I hope that that's okay. Also, what does Tony Holloway and Jackie have to do with this story?**

 **To _Guest 3_ : I'm assuming that you are your own person and not one of the Guests above, so I'm sorry if you were and I'm inconveniencing you. Anyway, for some reason I thought that I visited the wiki, but I just looked it up and OH MY GOODNESS THIS IS AWESOME! XD Thanks for suggesting it!**


	42. 42 Almost Halloween

(Chapter published May 20, 2017.)

 **Mount Justice**

 **October 27, 18:12 EDT**

Despite her break in training three days earlier, Cecilia had spent every day afterwards building her physical and mental strength from sunup to sundown, often completely exhausted by the time she went to bed. Fortunately, her struggles were not in vain, and she was increasing both her durability and her control over her powers, plus Dr. Jones recently decided that she knew enough English to begin learning mathematics and science, which was encouraging. She could even convert small numbers from roman numerals to Hindu-Arabic numerals - the number system that he said most people used.

However, her busy schedule couldn't stop her from hanging out with the Team, as she was currently doing. They were gathered around the television, playing one of the only video games they could all participate in - _Super Smash Bros. for Wii U._ All six members of the Team, with Cecilia and Captain Marvel joining as the seventh and eighth players, battled it out with tiny, fictional characters that ran around a huge, fictional arena. For her character, Cecilia had chosen a winged boy in a garment resembling a toga, but she couldn't keep track of where her character was on the screen, probably because this was one of the first video games she's ever played. She couldn't tell if the others were simply destroying her character or if she was making him fly off the edge of the arena, but she knew that he was dying _a lot_. By the time that the current match was over and the statistics were shown, she discovered that her character had died a total of thirteen times. Ignoring Wally's shout of victory, the Roman girl turned to Kaldur, who had come in seventh place, "How bad was my score?"

Kaldur glanced at her score of -13, visibly tried to repress his surprise, and then replied encouragingly, "You will become better. I performed poorly on my first attempt as well."

That meant that she must have done really, really badly, but she had to remind herself that that was her first time playing, and seeing that she was battling against older superhumans, she probably couldn't have done any better even if she had been raised in the modern age.

As they began another round, M'gann suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, I almost forgot! The Happy Harbor High School is hosting a Halloween party. Wendy said that we could bring friends, so I thought that it could be a party for the Team."

Wally readily agreed, followed by the rest of the Team and Cecilia, who was a bit hesitant even though it meant hanging out with her friends some more. Captain Marvel smiled widely, "I think that's a great idea!"

"I guess it's settled, then," M'gann remarked, grinning brightly. This eventually brought the topic of conversation to costume ideas, which in turn raised the one question Cecilia couldn't immediately answer: what was she going to dress as? Wally quickly claimed that he was going to dress as a werwolf and Artemis stated that her costume was a vampire, but everyone else either didn't have a costume or didn't want to reveal it yet, so Cecilia clearly still had a few days to decide.

In the meantime, the Team finished their game (with Robin as the new champion) and quickly decided to prepare for halloween by watching a movie. After Cecilia's emotional reaction to _WALL-E_ , the majority of the teenagers decided against anything frightening until the twelve-year-old could handle it, much to Wally's disappointment, although he agreed that it was a good idea. So they chose a movie centered around the next best thing: candy. The movie was evidently from the year 1971 and titled _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_ , and with the promise that it wasn't going to either scare her or make her cry, Cecilia was eager to watch it.

... Only to realize that her definition of scary and her friends' definition of scary was not remotely the same. The movie turned out to be about a middle-aged man who selectively picked off children one-by-one and had carrot-people minions called "Oompa-Loompas" who sang a song whenever another child possibly died. How is that not terrifying? One boy almost drowns in chocolate, another girl turned blue and inflated like a balloon, and a second girl was dropped down a chute that presumably led to a furnace. _A furnace!_ Even the hero, a boy named Charlie, is almost chopped to death by spinning blades. It was too much for Cecilia to handle, and she had to force herself to not look away or leave the room many times. After all, her friends were barely reacting at all, so why should she?

By the end of the movie, Cecilia felt like she wanted to cry, but thankfully her eyes remained dry and she managed to hide her horror until everyone left for either their home or bedrooms.

Let's just say that she made good use of her powers, and there was not an inch of unlit space for an Oompa-Loompa to hide.

* * *

 **A/N - First off, I want to say that I kind of combined two chapters into one because otherwise it was just too short. Second, let me explain the whole Willy Wonka thing. Her reaction is based off of my own experiences. When I was four, my summer school/daycare decided that it would be a great idea to entertain the kids (most of whom were older than me, admittedly) with** ** _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_** **. I won't go into specifics, but when my mom came to pick me up I was curled up in a ball crying in the corner AND I had nightmares about that movie for three years. Again, I was four, but I also hadn't figured out how they created the visual effects and such, and the Oompa-Loompas were absolutely terrifying. So was their song. It didn't help that the "summer camp" (aka daycare for older kids) I went to watched that movie and the 2005 version once a week, during which I sat outside in the hall for an hour and a half with my hands over my ears. Considering that I still try to avoid that movie, I think that Cecilia is allowed to have a negative reaction to it.**

 **And with that tangent out of the way, I shall now precede to thanking all of the kind souls who have reviewed. My thanks goes to _Guest_ _1_ , _Luna_ , _Anna_ , and _Sun_ for reviewing!**

 **To _Guest 1_ : Ah, okay. Haha, it really confused me to see those names on your review! XD**

 **To _Luna_ : Don't worry, I have it planned out so that I won't mess up the timeline, at least until the upcoming season 3 gives me some more canon content. Believe it or not, the timeline is a big concern for me, and I've tried to leave it as intact as I could while keeping everything realistic. I consulted the Young Justice Wiki's timeline while planning this story and have tried to work my own plot points into the periods of time that don't get screen time, if that makes any sense. Anyway, thank you for voicing your concerns, and please tell me if I'm not doing a satisfactory job.**

 **To _Anna_ : Funnily enough, your review that stated your name popped up before your actual review, so I had no idea what you were referring to at first! XD Anyway, I don't think that you sound like a jerk saying that, mainly because it is unfortunately true. I have found one or two decent ones on Quotev, but the lack of well-planned content and mis-characterization is what led me to give it a stab myself with this fanfic (which will hopefully end up decently good; you guys will have to keep me informed on that). And I agree with your Robin/OC comment. There are tons of them and virtually none of those are good, which makes me really quite sad. Once, I found one where they literally "did the deed" in the second chapter (I immediately stopped reading, and yeah that was on Quotev). Moving on, I'm really encouraged to think that you think I can make a good Robin/OC romance! I'm going to keep the sibling-esque relationship for while if everything goes right, so I hope you continue to enjoy it for now! Aww, your praise is more than I deserve, but I'm thrilled that you like my writing style and my OC! I really like fine because it seems a lot more mature than Quotev, and guests can still review. I hope that you continue to love this story!**

 **To _Sun_ : Yes, I looked them up on Powerlisting Wikia, and her abilities fall under Light Manipulation. She won't have every ability listed there, but she will discover new abilities that I won't spoil here. What she can currently control, though, is the ability to create Photokinetic Constructs.**

 **Thank you all for reading! And give me ideas for Cecilia's Halloween costume!**


	43. 43 Halloween

(Chapter published July 16, 2017.)

 **Mount Justice**

 **October 31, 19:13 EDT**

As she waited for everyone to finish getting ready for the Happy Harbor High School Halloween dance, Cecilia scowled and scratched at the costume M'gann had hurriedly bought for her earlier in the day: some weird Wonder Woman inspired outfit, with some tights on underneath. The twelve-year-old intensely regretted the fact that she had planned on wearing her new superhero costume for the party. It wasn't like anyone told her that she couldn't let other people know that she was a superhero - or going to be, anyways - so instead of finding an actual costume she had counted on whoever was in charge of making her superhero outfit getting it done in time. Unfortunately, making her superhero costume didn't seem to be high on anyone's to-do list, so even if she wanted to wear it she couldn't because she didn't have it yet.

And yes, she was incredibly bitter about this. In fact, she was barely in the mood to attend the party at all. The only reasons she was still going were the facts that M'gann went through so much trouble to get her an actual costume and the rest of the Team still planned on having a good time. Except Robin and Kaldur, neither of whom could come because they were apparently meeting with some of the adults to discuss something.

All this to say: Cecilia was not happy, but she halfheartedly tried to put on a happy face and ignore the itchy clothes purely for the sake of her friends.

Her attention was drawn away from her outfit by Wally, who for some reason began howling at the ceiling. His face was framed with extra hair, all of which was brown instead of his normal red, and the tip of his nose was painted black and his ears were now pointy, but otherwise he looked like any other modern guy. Cecilia tried to remember what he was pretending to be, but the word escaped her, so she watched in great confusion as he continued his fake, animalistic cry.

After a few minutes, during which Cecilia's already dwindling patience continued to fall, Wally stopped and looked condescendingly at Wolf, who was peacefully sleeping nearby, "Really? You're not gonna join in at all? What kind of wolf are you?"

 _'Oh, so that's what he's doing,'_ Cecilia thought, relieved that he had ceased howling but bored once again now that her curiosity wasn't piqued. She leaned her back against wall and huffed, crossing her arms. _'I hope we leave soon. I've been waiting all day!'_

"Wally, stop torturing him," Connor told the speedster, giving him a tired look that seemed to say, "and me as well."

"Hold still, please," M'gann requested, her voice betraying her amusement as she wrapped toilet paper around the ebony-haired teenager. Again, Cecilia was baffled by this behavior. What could Connor possibly be going to the party as that would require him to be wrapped in toilet paper, of all things? Was this some sort of tradition, or was he just being weird?

"Megan, stop torturing him," Wally teased playfully as he approached the two and unintentionally reminding Cecilia to call the martian by her earth name. The speedster then put his arm on M'gann's shoulder and leaned in secretively, pointing his thumb at Connor as he continued talking in a low voice. Cecilia couldn't hear what he was saying because she was sitting on the other side of the mission room, and out of both curiosity and boredom she stood and walked closer.

"Wally, I invited the entire Team to the dance. Zatanna, too," M'gann responded at a normal volume, her tone slightly strained. Cecilia stopped beside Connor and gave him a questioning look, wondering what she missed, but he shook his head dismissively.

"Good, keeps us on the down-low," Wally approved with a smile and a nod. The expression M'gann gave him made Cecilia wonder if Wally knew all the details of whatever he was talking about, but the conversation moved on as Wally kept talking, "So, you going as my favorite martian?"

"Not exactly," M'gann answered vaguely, taking a few steps away from everyone. Cecilia's eyes widened in amazement as M'gann's clothes elongated and, along with her skin, turned snow white. She vaguely reminded the roman girl of something Dr. Jones showed her a couple weeks back - a modern bride - except that M'gann's dress was torn at the bottom and appeared kind of raggedy. She lifted her arms dramatically and scowled, growling theatrically. Evidently satisfied with the impressed looks Wally, Cecilia, and Connor were giving her, she rested her hands on her hips and grinned.

"Woah. Babe, eat my brains anytime," said Wally, marveling at the transformation. Cecilia almost, _almost_ jokingly asked if he had any brain to eat, but ultimately decided against it. After all, she wasn't entirely sure if he was being serious or not. Halloween was just plain weird, and she wasn't about to test how much weirder it could get.

"Great minds think alike!" Captain Marvel's voice boomed, jolting the twelve-year-old out of her thoughts. The Justice Leaguer was dressed in his usual red outfit, complete with the lightning bolt and the white cape, but his face was painted white with dark patches around the eyes. Cecilia supposed that this was his costume, and now all of her previous moodiness came back full force. Why could Captain Marvel wear his superhero costume? Aside from the fact that she didn't have it, why couldn't she wear hers?

"Captain, you look terrific!" M'gann exclaimed, causing Captain Marvel to all but glow with pride. "Are you going to a Halloween celebration, too?"

Captain Marvel's pride deflated like a leaky balloon. He scratched his head, stammering out in confusion, "I- I- Sure, I'm going with- I mean, you did invite the whole Team, right?"

"Yeah, we'll all be at the dance," M'gann assured him, smiling. "So don't worry about us; go, have a good time at your party."

"Recognized: Artemis. B, zero, seven. Zatanna Zatara. A, zero, four."

Everyone's attention was diverted to the Zeta Tubes as both girls simultaneously arrived, already dressed for the party. They quickly complimented each other's costumes as they approached the small group of already-gathered teenagers, switching their focus to Captain Marvel as they noticed him. Zatanna remarked, "Oh, look, Zombie Captain Marvel. That's... hilarious. Is the Justice League having a party? My dad didn't mention it."

"No no no! See, I..." the Justice Leaguer's voice trailed off uncertainly. There was an awkward pause, during which Cecilia wondered what was going on, before the older hero spoke again. "Fine. I'm going trick-or-treating," Captain Marvel announced, launching himself into the air and landing lightly in front of a Zeta Tube, arms crossed.

"Recognized: Captain Marvel. One, five."

"And I'm not sharing my candy," he glowered resolutely. Cecilia watched as Captain Marvel was absorbed by the familiar, yellow glow of a Zeta Beam, frowning in disapproval. It was clear to her that there wasn't a Justice League party and Captain Marvel thought that he was invited to the Happy Harbor dance, and although it seemed like the Team didn't realize it, Captain Marvel looked hurt to find out that he wasn't invited after all. The twelve-year-old's heart ached sympathetically, and it kind of reminded her of when the Team and Zatanna went on a mission without her...

Cecilia quickly examined her options and, with a committed thought of _'Well, it doesn't seem like we're leaving anytime soon anyway,'_ took off after the adult hero. The rest of the Team choked out surprised exclamations at her sudden action, but before they could react she called over her shoulder, "I'm going with Captain Marvel!"

A split second later, she was standing in the Zeta Tube, and a second after that she was regretting her rash decision as her body began to tingle oddly and light filled her vision, accompanied by a an announcement, "Recognized: Cecilia. A, zero, three."

She didn't have time to panic about using a Zeta Tube for the first time before the light completely blocked out everything else and she was engulfed in energy. The energy was so intense that she could almost sense it without even trying, but before she could even think about exploring it with her powers, the light died away, revealing a worn down, darkened room about a quarter of the size of her bedroom. There were very few furnishings - just a bench and some sort of small, glass circle on the opposite wall. It didn't even have a proper door, just a faded curtain that seemed to serve no purpose but to block out what little light there was. Suddenly hesitant to venture into the unknown and again regretting her thoughtless action, Cecilia paused as she reached out to peel back the curtain, wondering if she should go back. _'It would be the smart thing to do... But then again...'_

It would be somewhat embarrassing to return so quickly, and she followed Captain Marvel for a reason. So the twelve-year-old steeled her nerves and carefully pulled aside the thick fabric, revealing an empty alley that was sealed off by a wooden fence. Seeing no one, she stepped outside and called out softly, "Captain Marvel? Can you hear me?"

No one answered, but Cecilia thought that she saw something move in the fence's shadow. Captain Marvel was neither small enough nor discreet enough to hide there, but... "I came to go trick-or-treating with you. I wasn't in the mood to party, anyway. Uh... Can you come out, now?"

Still no response reached her ears. All was eerily quiet, prompting Cecilia to venture even farther into the open and call out in a louder voice, "Captain Marvel? Um... Are you there? I'd rather not be alone..."

"You're not alone, pretty one," a raspy, feminine voice behind her spat. Cecilia whipped around to find a ghastly woman with black hair perched on top of the small room she was in, which she now noticed was little more than a shack with the words "Photo Booth" plastered to its walls. The woman had tight, black clothing and a rippling, dark cape that was in tatters at the end. Her black mouth was twisted into a hateful sneer, but what Cecilia could have done to provoke such spite was beyond her recollection. The Roman girl stared at the woman mutely, knowing that if she couldn't jump over the fence, she was trapped. The woman seemed to have the same realization and smirked, "Why don't we have a little chat? You look like you could use the company."

Cecilia's eyes lit up in relief as something again moved in the shadows, this time behind the woman. Captain Marvel! But no, nothing _in_ the shadows was moving; it was the _shadows themselves_ that moved! Her relief quickly turned to horror as the shadows peeled away from their normal positions and solidified into a black force, waiting beside the ghastly woman as if under her control. Cecilia felt her heart begin to race and her palms become sweaty as she stared at the dark force, eyes wide. _'This won't end well.'_

* * *

 **A/N - Hello again! I'm so, so sorry that I haven't updated in... two months? That long, really? That's a new record, even for me, and I am thoroughly ashamed of myself, especially because of all the positive support and constant reminders you guys have been giving me. Seriously, y'all are amazing!**

 **Thanks to _Guest_ , _Awesomeness3013_ , _Guest 2_ , _Guest 3_ , _Locke_ _Up_ , _xenocanon_ , and _JimmyHall24_ for reviewing! Seriously, you don't know how awesome you all are!**

 **To _Guest_ : These last two chapters were a bit short, weren't they? But don't worry, they'll be back to their usual length soon. I have a set goal for the length of my chapters that I try to reach when I write, but I'm sorry if that seems too short. I hope that despite this, you are still enjoying my story, and I will try to make the chapters a bit longer!**

 **To _Guest 2_ : Yes, every time she discovers a new power, it will have its own limitations and drawbacks. After all, it wouldn't be fun to create a character with no trials or shortcomings! Who wants to read that? XD**

 **To _Guest 3_ : She has the ability to manipulate light into solid shapes (as well as do other light-related things that she will discover later). They aren't necessarily gemstones, but to get really technical about it, I imagine that the light structures she generates have a microscopic, crystalline lattice structure, and that's why I keep referring to them as crystals or gems. Does that make any sense? No? Then, uh... Just think of it as simply solid light.**

 **I must give a special thanks to _Locke_ _Up_ , who wouldn't stop bugging me to update this story. Thank you for your continued support - and everyone else as well!**

 **And now, to end this long Author's Note, a challenge: I bet that none of you can guess the villain without looking her up on the DC Wiki. Yep, you got that right; she's canon, but not from the Young Justice cartoon. :) Bet you don't know her name.**


	44. 44 A Living Nightmare

(Chapter published July 20, 2017.)

It was only because of Black Canary's combat training that Cecilia managed to leap aside just before the strange woman's dark force smacked into the ground, creating a small crater where she was standing moments before. The shadowy force recoiled dramatically, almost like a snake, and the ghastly woman cackled at the twelve-year-old's fright as she prepared to strike again. Cecilia tried to think of something - anything - that could save her, but her brain was refusing to yield any ideas, good or bad. She backed up against a nearby building, trapped. There was no way for her to make it over the nearby fence before her adversary attacked again, and attempting to escape that way would leave her vulnerable. However, there also wasn't anything that she could hide behind, and the villainess was perched on top of her only way back to Mount Justice. The chances that someone might come to her rescue were growing slimmer with every passing second, so she was on her own. _'Come on, Cecilia! Think of something!'_

"There is no escape for you now. You can not run, and you can not hide from me, for I have dominion over all the dark places," the woman boasted, relishing the power she wielded over the frightened girl. The shadow flew towards Cecilia again, and the twelve-year-old barely flung herself out of its reach as it crashed down like a wave. She landed unceremoniously on her stomach and skidded a couple of inches. The rough ground scraped against her arms and legs, painfully scratching away her skin, but she had no time to worry about her injuries. Soon, she was back on her feet and preparing to dodge another blow, able to only give her stinging wounds a brief glance. There was some blood leaking from a particularly large abrasion on her left elbow, but otherwise there wasn't any damage worth her concern. This was partially due to the fact that she had small patches of dimly-glowing light crystals forming on her skin, which must have acted almost like armor against the ground.

 _'Wait a second...'_ Cecilia looked from her light crystals to the gathering shadow force and back again. Her opponent controlled shadow. She controlled light. Light beats shadow. If she wasn't already feeling terrified, the sheer stupidity of how late this realization came to her would have caused her to facepalm, but at the moment she was too busy preparing to fight back to chastise herself.

The Roman girl closed her eyes and tried to reach out to the same dancing energy that had yet to let her down, and within moments its comforting presence washed over her, dim because it was well past sunset but there all the same. Her fears died down quite a bit as the feeling of helplessness was replaced by a sense of capability, a knowledge that she could defend herself, and a hesitant confidence that she would be okay. She could sense the light of the lampposts on the other side of the fence, feel the lack of light that indicated their shadows, and, disturbingly, perceive a shape that seemed to be _absorbing_ the energy, like a ravenous lion eating a deer. _'That must be the thing she's attacking me with!'_

The woman seemed to realize what Cecilia was doing, for a second later the wave-like void shot towards her with a strength and speed it didn't have before. Cecilia reacted quickly, gathering the light around her just as the hungry void crashed down upon her. She felt the force of the shadow attempt to squash her as the light of the lampposts was quenched, but the ghastly woman's efforts were too late. The shadow bearing down on the young girl was instead pushing against one of her light constructs - a square shield hovering a few inches away from her outstretched hands. She heard the woman shout in frustration, "You control where light can go, but I control where it can not. Foolish girl, you think that your efforts will stop me?!"

It took Cecilia a moment to figure out what the woman was saying, but once she did she felt fear and desperation clutch at her heart even more tightly than before. The shadow force was gradually _wearing away_ her shield. Little by little, centimeter by centimeter, her shield was losing its thickness and strength to the light-eating shadow. Furthermore, the returning fear was making it harder to control the light construct, which in turn made it weaker and easier to destroy. As her defeat became more an more certain, Cecilia cried out in bafflement, " _Why are you attacking me_?!"

"I don't understand Latin, but I know someone who does," the woman promised as the last of the shield was destroyed and the shadow force wrapped around Cecilia's body like a giant hand. The twelve-year-old struggled and squirmed, but her arms were pressed against her sides, so there wasn't much she could do as the dark hand lifted her into the air and pulled her closer to the woman, who smirked, "He promises that he is eager to meet you again."

 _'No...'_ Cecilia felt like all of the breath had left her lungs, and she began to tremble uncontrollably. A cold, fluttery feeling entered her stomach, and she suddenly had to fight off a wave of lightheadedness as she was transported back to Rome, to the moment when the bald foreigner screamed at their refusal and her father disappeared behind a wall of rock and her mother's terrified green eyes locked onto her own and the ground opened up and there was nothing but darkness, darkness, darkness...

" _NO! HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!_ " Cecilia screamed for all she was worth, her throat quickly becoming raw with only those few words. The ghastly woman flinched, both at the loud noise and the attention it could bring, and a moment later the shadowy force was wrapped around Cecilia's mouth as well, effectively gagging her. Tears streamed down her face as the possibility of losing everything all over again entered her mind, and she prayed fervently, lifting her eyes to a sky that she couldn't see, _'Gracious God, I know that I have been abusing you lately and that I haven't thought of you often except in times of need, but don't send me back! Don't let him take me, Lord! Please!'_

"Shazam!" a young voice shouted just seconds before the shadowy hand was jerked roughly to the side, yanking the Roman girl along with it. Then the hand dissipated, allowing Cecilia to suddenly fall to the ground, landing in a crouch with her heart thumping wildly and her lungs inhaling rapidly. Her eyes landed on Captain Marvel, who was fighting off the ghastly woman with a series of quick, powerful punches. The attack took the woman by surprise and she was knocked off of the photo booth, but she was quick to recover by pulling the shadows in front of her like a protective curtain. Captain Marvel's fist slammed into the shield, cracking it like it was concrete, but the shadows only reformed and repaired the damage.

As soon as Captain Marvel began to look for another way to strike, the curtain dissipated and the woman released an energetic blast of shadow that caught the red-clad hero and pinned him against a building. Thinking up a desperate plan, Cecilia wasted no time in reconnecting to what little light the night afforded and forming a discus in her hand, flinging it at the woman. Just before the glowing object could land, a wall of shadow leapt up from the ground to intercept it, but in that instant Cecilia suddenly released all of the light energy in the discus, allowing it to violently escape the shape's confines in a brilliant flash of light that absolutely obliterated the shadow wall and caused the woman to stumble to the side with a startled shriek, stunned. Captain Marvel, no longer pinned down, used the building as a launchpad and soared directly towards the woman. She was still recovering from the blast of light and almost failed to notice the incoming attack, but at the last second she jumped over him, floating higher and higher into the night sky. Cecilia and Captain Marvel watched as the ghastly woman shrouded herself in darkness, hatefully hissing a few parting words, "This battle is far from over."

"Who was that?" Captain Marvel demanded once the villainess disappeared, turning to Cecilia. The twelve-year-old looked shell-shocked, sitting on the ground with her knees pulled against her chest and her gaze staring blankly in front of her. Concerned, Captain Marvel knelt down in front of her, gently waving his hand in front of her face, "Hey, Cecilia. It's over now. She's gone. You're safe now."

" _No,_ " the Roman girl whispered, gasping in a deep breath. "Not safe. He's back."

* * *

 **A/N - No one has guessed the villainess yet, although a few people have come close. I won't spoil her identity for you, but if you have any more guesses, feel free to comment below. Or just comment anyway and tell me what you thought about this chapter! I didn't really mean for it to go down like it did, but oh well. Hope you enjoyed it!**

 **And as always, I'm grateful for _Awesomeness3013_ , _LockeUp_ , _Mikekit_ , and _Guest_ for reviewing!**

 **To _Guest_ : Nope, although she certainly looks like her. They both kind of creep me out, actually... But great guess!**


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